Lycopene

Lycopene is an acyclic, lipophilic carotenoid that gives tomatoes, watermelon and pink grapefruit their red colour. Bioavailability is higher from heat-processed tomato products (sauce, paste) than from raw tomatoes and is enhanced by dietary fat. In the 2017 Rowles meta-analysis of 42 observational studies and 692,012 participants, higher dietary intake and higher circulating lycopene were associated with a modestly reduced risk of prostate cancer (~1% per 2 mg extra lycopene). Randomised supplementation trials have been smaller and inconclusive, so the protective association rests primarily on observational data and is most plausibly attributed to a tomato-rich dietary pattern rather than to isolated lycopene capsules. There is no EU-authorised health claim for lycopene.