Lycopene – “anti-aging” effects and sun protection from within. Lycopene belongs to the class of carotenoids and is found in high concentrations in tomatoes, although the amount contained in processed tomatoes (e.g. tomato paste) is even greater than in fresh tomatoes. In contrast to many vitamins, the bioavailability, i.e. the absorption of lycopene by the body, is increased by heating or cooking, as the cell wall structures of the tomatoes break down and the active ingredient can be absorbed better.
The biological effectiveness is that of a classic antioxidant, with lycopene being one of the most effective options for “neutralizing” the particularly aggressive and cell-damaging singlet oxygen and protecting it from damage caused by aggressive oxygen radicals.
The effects of lycopene are particularly interesting for applications on the skin. In addition to its antioxidant protective function against cell damage caused by oxidative stress and the associated skin aging, lycopene is of great benefit to the skin due to another property: lycopene can produce the body's own sun protection factor against sunlight. A study* at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf has shown that taking 40 g of tomato paste daily provides sun protection for the skin, comparable to a sun protection factor of 2-3 in a sunscreen. Even if this is not enough sun protection for intensive sunbathing and 40 g of tomato paste per day seems rather unattractive from a culinary point of view, lycopene's “anti-aging” effects and sun protection from within can make an effective contribution to protecting the skin.
*Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16465309/