The increase in consumers demand for high‐quality food products has led to the growth in the use of new technologies and ingredients such as RS. RS occurs basically in all starchy foods and has a long history as food source for humans. RS includes the portion of starch that can resist digestion by human pancreatic amylase in the small intestine and thus, reach the colon. His great nutritional interest is associated with his physiological effects, similar to those of dietary fibre. The regular consumption of certain subclasses of highly fermentable dietary fibre sources result in gut associated immune and microbiota modulation as well as a significant production of SCFAs. Among the different physiological roles of RS, its prebiotic effect is of great interest. RS can be considered prebiotic and it is not absorbed in the intestine. The best approach of prebiotic–probiotic symbiosis is achieved by encapsulation. But other food biocompounds can be encapsulated too using RS.

During recent decades, the food industry, consumers, and regulatory authorities have developed a significant interest in functional foods because of their potential benefits for human health over and above their basic nutritional value. Tomato is the second most important vegetable crop in the world. The amount of the related wastes is estimated at up to 50,000 tons per year, representing a serious disposal problem with a consequent negative impact on the environment. Tomato byproducts contain a great variety of biologically active substances, principally lycopene, which have been demonstrated by in vitro and in vivo studies to possess antioxidant, hypolipidemic, and anticarcinogenic activities. The aim of this review is to present an overview of the functional and physiological properties of the principal bioactive compound present in tomato and tomato byproducts, lycopene, its addition to meat, and meat products.