Biotechnological production of natural sweeteners and preservatives on tomato paste

A novel aspect on different preservation methods for tomato paste by examining the protective effect of herb and spice oils

In this study, the effect of essential oils of herbs and spices on the protection of homemade tomato paste without additives was investigated. Garlic oil was used as plant essential oil and thyme oil was used as spice essential oil. Samples were kept without adding essential oils at the specified holding times in determined light and dark ambient conditions. After the test period of the prepared setups was completed, the amount of mold formed in the tomato paste was observed, and the optimum samples were determined as K4A4, K4K7, K4K13, K6K10, S6K4, S6K7, S6K10, S6A13 by weighing again and creating a %-time graph by mass. It was decided that thyme essential oil had a more protective effect in foods than garlic essential oil, with the analysis methods performed on optimum samples (Physical analysis, microbiological analysis, FT-IR, and TG DTA).

Recovery of Carotenoids from Tomato Pomace Using a Hydrofluorocarbon Solvent in Sub-Critical Conditions

The enrichment of oils with nutraceutical bioactive phytomolecules allows the achievement of functional oil-based products of great interest in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic fields. Carotenoids, such as lycopene and β-carotene, are available at a high concentration in tomatoes and tomato waste products, as peels, seeds, and pulp; their recovery is recently attracting growing interest and economic importance in the food industry, and also in consideration of the huge amount of industrial waste produced. The aim of this work is to study the production of an oil functionalized with carotenoids from tomato peels. The extractions were carried out using an innovative process based on the use of commercial Norflurane as solvent in subcritical conditions. Extraction trials were performed on dried tomato peels, with the addition of tomato seeds or wheat germ flour as sources of oily co-solvents, capable of also preserving the biological characteristics of the carotenoids extracted. Although lycopene solubility in Norflurane is quite low, the solvent recirculation and regeneration were allowed to reach a concentration in the oily extracts of approximately 0.3 mg/goil after 2 h of the process. The enrichment in β-carotene was more pronounced, and concentrations of 0.733 mg/goil and 0.952 mg/goil were observed in wheat germ and tomato seed oils, respectively. The results obtained in this study were compared with those obtained by traditional and supercritical CO2 extraction methods.