Lycopene photoprotection. Like all carotenoids, lycopene is a tetraterpene. It is insoluble in water. Eleven conjugated double bonds give lycopene its deep red color. Owing to the strong color, lycopene is useful as a food coloring (registered as E160d) and is approved for use in the USA, Australia and New Zealand (registered as 160d) and the European Union. Lycopene is a symmetrical tetraterpene assembled from eight isoprene units. It is a member of the carotenoid family of compounds, and because it consists entirely of carbon and hydrogen, is also a carotene. Isolation procedures for lycopene were first reported in 1910, and
Lycopene food, or as a dietary supplement, and any of these cancers." A 2017 review concluded that tomato products and lycopene supplementation had small positive effects on cardiovascular risk factors, such as elevated blood lipids and blood pressure. A 2010 review concluded that research has been insufficient to establish whether lycopene consumption affects human health. Lycopene has been studied in basic and clinical research for its potential effects on cardiovascular diseases and prostate cancer, although results through 2017 have not changed the prevailing FDA view that evidence of benefit remains inconclusive. Lycopene Lycopene (from the neo-Latin "Lycopersicum", the tomato species) is