A Turkish company is extracting lycopene from discarded tomato peels and converting it into a healthy, sustainable source of red food colouring.

Food and Natural Resources

What do cheese, cereals, jams and processed meats all have in common? Sure, they’re all edible, and often delicious, but they’re also frequent users of E120 – a bright-red food colouring derived from the body and eggs of insects. Commonly called carmine, this colouring has recently come under scrutiny by consumer advocacy groups. These groups argue that carmine causes behavioural problems such as attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity in children. Because of health and safety concerns like these, there’s been a push by the food industry to find a ‘better source of red’. For the EU-funded LycoSOL project, that source is the red tomato. “Our environmentally friendly, natural solution is derived entirely from the extraction of plant waste – in this case, leftover tomato peels,” says Arısan İnce, co-founder and CEO of BioCapSOL. This Turkish company, specialising in extracting valuable ingredients from the by-products of food production, serves as the LycoSOL project’s lead partner.

Seeing a wasted opportunity

Lycopene is a carotenoid, a natural pigment that gives some fruits and vegetables, such as tomatoes, their red colouring. As an antioxidant, it also helps protect the body against cell damage. Seeing a chance to create a natural food colouring that also offers a health benefit, the LycoSOL project set out to harvest lycopene from tomatoes. Although many foods use tomatoes, they typically dispose of the peel. However, because lycopene is found in the peel, BioCapSOL saw these peels not as a waste product but as a wasted opportunity. “This was a clear instance of one’s waste becoming another’s gold,” explains İnce. Surprisingly, sourcing this waste product was harder than anticipated. “Climate change is making growing seasons less predictive and thus feedstock quality more variable,” adds İnce. “As a result, we had to modify our washing and cutting tools, as well as our drying system, to compensate for these changes.” With the tomato peels secured, BioCapSOL was able to successfully extract the lycopene. This was then converted into LycoSOL, a substance that other foods can use to not only create an attractive colour of red, but also provide the consumer with an important source of antioxidants.

Towards a sustainable future

LycoSOL offers another key advantage: its production process is environmentally friendly. “We need to make better use of our waste streams as this helps create a sustainable, circular economy,” remarks İnce. “The LycoSOL project is a perfect example of what this type of future could look like.” Speaking of the future, İnce says that the LycoSOL project has opened the door to many potential opportunities for BioCapSOL. “The knowledge we gained during this project helps us identify other organic waste streams that could be converted into value-added products,” he adds. “It just goes to show that Mother Nature has provided us with a smorgasbord of natural ingredients – now it’s up to us to make use of them.”

Keywords

LycoSOL, BioCapSOL, food waste, food colouring, lycopene, E120, carmine, food industry, food production, carotenoid, antioxidants, circular economy