Lycopene is a naturally occurring chemical compound that gives fruits and vegetables a red/orange color. As an intermediate metabolite of β-carotene biosynthesis, lycopene represents one of the major carotenoids. This work studies the gene expression pattern of lycopene biosynthesis/catabolism transcripts and the accumulation pattern of lycopene/β-carotene/chlorophyll contents at three developmental stages and three tissues in five widely consumed, commercial tomato cultivars (cvs. ‘Cherry Ninolino F1’, ‘Elpida F1’, ‘Daphne F1’, ‘Eliseo Plum F1’, and ‘Oxheart’). These contents were correlated with in vitro antioxidant activity. Higher levels of lycopene were observed in the peel than other tissues and in the fully ripe stage, with ‘Oxheart’ displaying the highest content. Differential regulation of lycopene biosynthetic genes (SlZDS and SlCRTISO) was demonstrated in all cultivars. Interestingly, a gene implicated in lycopene catabolism (SlLCYB) demonstrated a general induction in the tested tissues. High lycopene content correlates with significant induction of both SlZDS and SlCRTISO in ‘Oxheart’. Significantly increased antioxidant activity was observed in the peel of ‘Cherry Ninolino F1’ and ‘Elpida F1’ cultivars compared with other tested tissues across all cultivars. The exploration of lycopene activity in different cultivars and the consumption of ripe tomatoes including the peel could be useful for the protection of human health.

番茄红素是一种天然存在的化合物，可使水果和蔬菜呈现红色/橙色。番茄红素是β-胡萝卜素生物合成的中间代谢产物，是主要的类胡萝卜素之一。这项工作研究了五个广泛消费的商业化番茄品种（cvs。'Cherry Ninolino F1'，五个品种）在三个发育阶段和三个组织中番茄红素生物合成/分解代谢转录本的基因表达模式以及番茄红素/β-胡萝卜素/叶绿素含量的积累模式。 'Elpida F1'，'Daphne F1'，'Eliseo Plum F1'和'Oxheart'）。这些含量与体外相关抗氧化活性。在果皮中观察到的番茄红素含量高于其他组织，并且处于完全成熟阶段，其中“ Oxheart”含量最高。番茄红素生物合成基因（SlZDS和SlCRTISO）的差异调节已在所有品种中得到证实。有趣的是，牵涉番茄红素分解代谢的基因（SlLCYB）在被测组织中表现出普遍的诱导作用。番茄红素含量高与SlZDS和SlCRTISO的显着诱导相关在“ Oxheart”中。与所有品种的其他测试组织相比，在“樱桃Ninolino F1”和“ Elpida F1”品种的果皮中观察到抗氧化活性显着提高。探索不同品种番茄红素的活性以及食用成熟的西红柿（包括果皮）对于保护人类健康可能是有用的。