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News Food science Self-defence from tomatoes Cath O’Driscoll
Evidence for the health benefits of tomatoes – including the chemical lycopene responsible for their red coloration – appears to be stacking up. Last month, for example, researchers
in Finland reported than men with the most lycopene in their blood were least likely to have a stroke. The study of more than 1000 men, published in the journal Neurology (2012, 79, 1540), found that the risk of stroke was halved by a diet rich in the carotenoid, which is also found in water-melons, red bell peppers and papayas.
Last year, researchers in California
also revealed that consumption of a concentrated lycopene supplement slows the progression of prostate cancer and may be effective in preventing onset of the later, aggressive, form of the disease. Together with lycopene, tomatoes contain other carotenoids such as phytoene, phytofluene and beta- carotene along with polyphenols such as naringenin, rutin and rutin-pentoside and various phytosterols. However, their health benefits brought about not by these phytonutrients themselves, but by metabolites formed when they are oxidised after ingestion, said Joseph Levy, professor of clinical biochemistry at Ben Gurion University in Israel. ‘The basis for the vivid colour of
carotenoids and their antioxidant activity is their multiple conjugated double bonds which are characteristic for the phytonutrients,’ Levy said, speaking at a meeting last month organised by tomato supplement maker LycoRed. ‘Cleavage of these oxidation-prone double bonds leads to the formation of apocarotenoids [that are] ... natural products with multifunctional, rather than monofunctional, activity and thus can be useful in the prevention of cancer and other neurodegenerative diseases.’ In the University of California at
San Francisco study, analysis of gene expression levels from 29 men with low risk prostate cancer taking a once- daily dose of LycoRed’s Lyc-O-Mato supplement for three months revealed
that the supplement promotes two metabolic pathways that slow prostate cancer progression, Levy said: one of these pathways results in a reduction of male hormones known as androgens, while the other increases the antioxidant and protective abilities of cells (M. J. Magbanua et al, PLoS One, 2011, 6, e24004).
Each daily Lyc-O-Mato supplement contains 15mg/day of lycopene – equivalent to eating five or six tomatoes. Around 1m new cases of prostate
cancer are diagnosed every year although only about 10% of those affected die from the disease, Levy commented, pointing out that: ‘Many men with indolent prostate cancer will not exhibit disease progression during their lifetime,’ and it is at this stage when nutritional intervention may be helpful. In the area of cardiovascular
health, there is also mounting evidence of a preventive role for tomatoes in protecting against heart disease, according to LycoRed’s head of new business development Golan Raz. Next year the company will launch a new LycoSterols supplement specifically targeted at protecting cardiovascular health, particularly the ca 20 % of the population aged over 20 who are prehypertensive – defined as having a diastolic blood pressure of 80–89 and a systolic blood pressure in the range 120–139, Raz said.
Prehypertension is ‘the stage between being healthy and unhealthy’, Raz explained; when these levels climb we develop high blood pressure or hypertension and an increased risk of stroke, peripheral artery
Lycopene
‘The basis for the vivid colour of carotenoids and their antioxidant activity is their multiple conjugated double bonds’
Joseph Levy Ben Gurion University
disease and heart attack. Around 85% of people who are prehypertensive go on to become hypertensive.
Nutritional intervention with a tomato supplement at this stage could help to stave off the risk of developing hypertension as well as diabetes, according to Raz. In trials comparing the effectiveness of synthetic lycopene with a tomato extract in people with prehypertension, the company reported that both systolic and diastolic blood pressures were reduced after as little as four weeks with the extract whereas synthetic lycopene had no effect. Systolic blood pressure was reduced by 11 points after eight weeks, while diastolic pressures reduced by six points. However, blood pressures went back up after switching to placebo after 12 weeks. ‘The new LycoSterols technology is an optimisation of the “basic” Lyc-O- Mato extract towards the best clinical results in CV health,’ Raz said. ‘One of the adjustments found to be beneficial is the change in ratio between lycopene and phytosterols. In Lyc-O-Mato it is a non-standardised ratio of about 3: 1; however, in LycoSterols it is a standardised ratio of 1:1.’ This is the optimum ratio for the production of nitric oxide by cells, which is essential for maintaining healthy blood pressure and is linked to various CVD factors, he explained.
Consumer research by LycoRed found that 44% of the 1000 people surveyed under the age of 45 had suffered high blood pressure, with women as well as men at risk of heart disease. Indeed, consuming tomato chemicals is likely to be just as important for women’s health as for men, Levy commented, pointing
to recent research supporting their effectiveness in preventing breast and endometrial cancers and osteoporosis.
Chemistry&Industry • November 2012 19
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