Lycopene is more bioavailable in processed tomato products than in raw tomatoes, since arrangement of cis-isomers of lycopene during food processing and storage may increase its biological activity. The aim of the study is evaluate the influence of lycopene content from different tomato-based food products (extract, paste, ketchup and sauce) on cell proliferation, cell cycle, and rate of apoptosis of human prostate cancer cell lines. DU-145 and PC-3 cell lines were treated with lycopene content from different tomato-based food products (500–5000 μg/mL) for 96 h. The data showed a decrease in cell viability in both DU-145 and PC-3 cells after treatment with all lycopene extracts from tomato-based food products. Analysis of cell cycle revealed a decrease in the percentage of prostate cancer cells in G₀/G₁ and G₂/M phases after 96 h of treatment when using lycopene content from tomato paste and tomato extract. However, lycopene extracted from tomato sauce and ketchup promoted a decrease in the percentage of cells in G₀/G₁ phase and an increase in S and G₂/M phases after 96 h of treatment. Lycopene content from all of those tomato-based food products also increased apoptosis in both prostate cancer cell lines. In this regard, lycopene has proved to be a potent inhibitor of cell viability, arrest cell cycle and increase the apoptosis in human prostate cancer cells, suggesting an effect in the balance of human prostate cancer cell lines growth.

Carotenoids are the main tomato components, especially lycopene. Lycopene is more bioavailable in tomato processed products than in raw tomatos, since formation of lycopene cis-isomers during food processing and storage may increase its biological activity. In the current study, we evaluated the influence of lycopene extracts (5 mg / mL) from different tomato-based food products (paste, sauce, extract and ketchup) on cell viability and apoptosis on primary human prostate cancer cells (PCa cels) for 96h. Using MTT assay, we observed a significant decrease on primary PCa cell viability upon treatment with lycopene extracted from either 4 tomato-based food products. Flow cytometeric analysis revealed that lycopene from tomato extract and tomato sauce promoted up to fifty-fold increase on the proportion of apoptotic cells, when compared to the control group. Using real time PCR assay, we found that lycopene promoted an upregulation of TP53 and Bax transcript expression and also downregulation of Bcl-2 expression in PCa cells. In conclusion, our data demostrate that cis-lycopene promoted a significant inhibition on primary PCa cell viability, as well as an increase on their apoptotic rates, evidencing that cis-lycopene contained in tomato sauce and extract cain mainly modulate of primary human prostate cancer cell survival.

O presente estudo teve por objetivo avaliar o entendimento de consumidores sobre as informações contidas em rótulos de produtos alimentícios comercializados em supermercados da cidade de Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Durante 90 dias do ano de 2016, 301 consumidores foram entrevistados, através de um formulário estruturado, sobre sua compreensão em relação à rotulagem nutricional. Os resultados mostraram que, dos entrevistados, 63,79% liam os rótulos de alimentos, sendo que, destes, somente 53,49% compreendiam as informações lidas. Os participantes, que não tinham costume de ler o rótulo de alimentos, declararam que a falta de hábito e a letra ilegível são dois importantes pontos para a não prática da leitura nutricional. Aos interessados no rótulo, o prazo de validade e a tabela nutricional são as informações mais lidas na embalagem do produto. Os consumidores demonstraram maior preocupação sobre informações como valor calórico, conteúdo de carboidratos e sódio; dados estes que tem relação com a busca da informação nutricional devido a problemas de saúde, como diabetes e hipertensão, conforme relatado pelos participantes. Além disso, para 63,46% dos consumidores, deste estudo, o marketing não tem influência sobre a decisão de compra de um produto embalado. Conclui-se que as informações contidas nos rótulos de alimentos são relevantes para o grande público, porém há a necessidade de projetos educativos no âmbito nutricional, de modo a facilitar a compreensão e melhor uso das informações descritas nas embalagens de alimentos.