Lycopene is a red carotenoid (plant pigment) found in tomatoes and tomato products, watermelon and strawberries. The body does not turn it into vitamin A. As a supplement it is promoted as an antioxidant, mainly for prostate health and cancer prevention.
Also known as: tomato lycopene, tomato extract.
Lycopene has no RDA or upper limit, and there is no NIH fact sheet for it. The three trials in the Cochrane review (Ilic 2011) differed in design and in how lycopene was given, so there is no single study amount to quote.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling. ODS lists lycopene among the carotenoids that are not converted into vitamin A.
In 2005, FDA reviewed a petition for health claims about lycopene and prostate cancer and found no credible evidence to support a claim for lycopene, whether from tomatoes or as a food ingredient or dietary supplement, so it denied those claims. FDA allowed only a narrow qualified claim for tomatoes and tomato sauce, which must say that very limited and preliminary research suggests eating one-half to one cup a week may reduce prostate cancer risk and that FDA concludes there is little scientific evidence supporting it.
A Cochrane review (Ilic 2011) found three small trials with 154 men, two at high risk of bias. Lycopene did not change PSA levels, and the authors said there is not enough evidence to support or refute lycopene for preventing prostate cancer, or to judge its effect on prostate symptoms or side effects.
We could not find a single published half-life or time to peak for lycopene that applies to a supplement dose, so we do not list one.
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