The application of lycopene has been increased in the food industry as well as in medicine. However, lycopene is unstable, sensitive to the oxidation and degrades under the exposure to high temperature, light and extreme pH. A new lycopene delivery system was developed by complexing lycopene with chitooligosaccharides. The complexes were prepared by sonication, freeze-drying and kneading methods. The sonication and freeze-drying resulted in the best characteristics of complexes. The solubility of complexes prepared by those methods was 10.8–12.9 mg/mL, while the solubility of complexes obtained by kneading was 2.8–2.9 mg/mL. The size of particles prepared by kneading, freeze-drying and sonication was in the range of 358–400, 75.9–84.1 and 102–105 nm, respectively. The stability of complexes under different conditions, i.e., in the dark at 4 and 24 °C, in the light at 24 °C and under UVC irradiation in the dark at 24 °C was evaluated. The antioxidant activity of complexes and chitooligosaccharides was also determined. The complexation of lycopene with chitooligosaccharides extends the possibility for its application in the development of functional food.

番茄红素在食品工业和医学中的应用已经增加。然而，番茄红素是不稳定的，对氧化敏感并且在暴露于高温，光照和极端pH下会降解。通过将番茄红素与壳寡糖复合，开发了一种新的番茄红素递送系统。通过超声处理，冷冻干燥和捏合方法制备复合物。超声和冷冻干燥导致复合物的最佳特性。通过这些方法制备的复合物的溶解度为10.8-12.9 mg / mL，而通过捏合获得的复合物的溶解度为2.8-2.9 mg / mL。通过捏合，冷冻干燥和超声处理制备的颗粒大小分别在358–400、75.9–84.1和102–105 nm范围内。配合物在不同条件下的稳定性，即 在4和24°C的黑暗中，在24°C的光照下以及在UVC照射下在24°C的黑暗中进行评估。还测定了复合物和壳寡糖的抗氧化活性。番茄红素与壳寡糖的络合扩展了其在功能性食品开发中应用的可能性。