This work discusses the extraction of lycopene from tomato peel by-product containing tomato seed
using supercritical carbon dioxide. The presence of tomato seed in the peel by-product improved the
yield of extracted lycopene. Extraction was carried out at temperatures of 70–90 C, pressures of
20–40 MPa, a particle size of 1.05 ± 0.10 mm and flow rates of 2–4 mL/min of CO2 for 180 min extraction
time. Oil from tomato seed was extracted under similar operating conditions and analyzed using GC–MS
and GC–FID, while carotenoids extracted were analyzed by HPLC. The optimum operating condition to
extract lycopene, under which 56% of lycopene was extracted, was found to be 90 C, 40 MPa, and a ratio
of tomato peel to seed of 37/63. The presence of tomato seed oil helped to improve the recovery of lycopene
from 18% to 56%. The concentration of lycopene in supercritical carbon dioxide as a function of density
at various temperatures was determined.