EACH YEAR, THE TOMATO PROCESSING INDUSTRY GENERATES LARGE AMOUNTS OF BYPRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN HIGH VALUE BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS. THESE BYPRODUCTS ARE UNDERUTILIZED AND TREATED AS WASTE, WHICH ULTIMATELY CREATES DISPOSAL PROBLEMS AND NEGATIVELY IMPACTS THE ENVIRONMENT. AMONG THE BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS IN THE TOMATO WASTES, CAROTENOIDS, PARTICULARLY LYCOPENE, HOLD GREAT POTENTIAL TO COMBAT DISEASES SUCH AS CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES AND LOWER THE RISK OF PROSTATE, LUNG, AND STOMACH CANCERS. HOWEVER, IN ORDER TO ISOLATE LYCOPENE FROM ITS SOURCE AND CONVERT IT INTO A USEFUL FORM, THREE CHALLENGES MUST FIRST BE ADDRESSED: I) BECAUSE LYCOPENE IS LIPOPHILIC (I.E., WATER-INSOLUBLE), ITS EXTRACTION REQUIRES THE USE OF HAZARDOUS AND TOXIC ORGANIC SOLVENTS, II) LYCOPENE DEGRADES EASILY IN THE PRESENCE OF LIGHT AND OXYGEN, AND III) LYCOPENE HAS LOW BIOAVAILABILITY. NATURAL LYCOPENE IS EXPENSIVE AND CAN BE OBTAINED FROM TOMATOES; THEREFORE, COMMERCIAL LYCOPENE IS MOSTLY OBTAINED FROM CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS. HOWEVER, IN RECENT YEARS, INCREASING DEMAND FOR NATURAL PRODUCTS HAVE NEGATIVELY IMPACTED THE ACCEPTABILITY OF FOOD OR PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS CONTAINING ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS, AND IN RESPONSE, INDUSTRY HAS PLACED A HIGH PRIORITY ON THE UTILIZATION OF NATURAL BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS. THE DEMAND FOR NATURAL LYCOPENE HIGHLIGHTS THAT THE CURRENT PRODUCTION FROM WHOLE TOMATO FRUITS IS SMALL AND NEEDS TO BE INCREASED. THEREFORE, THERE IS A CRITICAL NEED FOR SIMPLE, EFFICIENT, AND CLEAN METHODS TO ISOLATE LYCOPENE FROM ALTERNATIVE NATURAL SOURCES AND THEN CONVERT IT INTO EASY-TO-USE, STABLE AND BIOAVAILABLE FORMS. IN THE ABSENCE OF SUCH METHODS, THE OPPORTUNITY TO ISOLATE LYCOPENE AND TRANSFORM IT INTO USEFUL FORMS FOR EFFICIENTLY IMPROVING HUMAN HEALTH WILL REMAIN UNTAPPED. OUR LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO DEVELOP AN INTEGRATED, GREEN BIOREFINERY APPROACH BASED ON SUPERCRITICAL CARBON DIOXIDE (SC-CO2) TECHNOLOGY TO UTILIZE TOMATO PROCESSING WASTES TO OBTAIN HIGH VALUE FRACTIONS AND PRODUCTS TO BE USED IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL, NUTRACEUTICAL, FOOD, AND COSMETIC INDUSTRIES. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AN INTEGRATED EXTRACTION-REACTION-PARTICLE FORMATION PROCESS THAT CAN SEPARATE AND ENRICH LYCOPENE IN A MORE BIOAVAILABLE FORM FROM TOMATO PROCESSING WASTES, NAMELY, TOMATO SEED AND PEEL, AND THEN CONVERT IT TO A HIGH VALUE LYCOPENE FORMULATION, WHILE ELIMINATING THE USE OF TOXIC SOLVENTS AND MINIMIZING WASTE GENERATION. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT ARE: (1) CONVERT TRANS-LYCOPENE TO CIS-LYCOPENE TO OBTAIN A CIS-LYCOPENE-RICH OLEORESIN FROM TOMATO PROCESSING INDUSTRY WASTE USING SC-CO2 AND OPTIMIZE THE SC-CO2 EXTRACTION VIA MATHEMATICALLY MODELING; (2) INTEGRATE SC-CO2 EXTRACTION WITH A CONTINUOUS SC-CO2 ENZYME REACTOR TO ENRICH THE CIS-LYCOPENE IN THE SC-CO2-EXTRACTED OLEORESIN; (3) INTEGRATE THE SC-CO2 EXTRACTION-REACTION PROCESS WITH A SC-CO2-BASED PARTICLE FORMATION PROCESS TO DEVELOP CIS-LYCOPENE-LOADED HOLLOW SOLID LIPID MICROSPHERES, AND PERFORM UP SCALED PROCESS MODELLING, AND COST OPTIMIZATION. THE EXPECTED OUTCOME IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NOVEL PROCESS TO FORM A HIGH VALUE PRODUCT FROM TOMATO WASTE. THIS RESEARCH WILL INTRODUCE A NOVEL, ONE-STEP EXTRACTION-REACTION-PARTICLE FORMATION PROCESS THAT CAN SEPARATE A COMPOUND FROM ITS SOURCE, THEN PURIFY AND CONVERT IT INTO A SOLID POWDER FORM FOR VARIOUS APPLICATIONS. THE NOVEL PARTICLE FORMATION METHOD WILL BE AN ALTERNATIVE PROCESS TO FORM LIPID-BASED BIOACTIVE DELIVERY SYSTEMS. IN THE LONG-TERM, THE PROJECT WILL MAXIMIZE THE UTILIZATION OF THE BIOACTIVES DERIVED FROM AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AND PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRATED GREEN BIOREFINERIES. WE ANTICIPATE THIS NOVEL APPROACH WILL REDUCE BIOACTIVE WASTE AND WATER AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION USED TO PRODUCE BIOACTIVES. THIS WOULD BE A SIGNIFICANT ADVANCE, PARTICULARLY BECAUSE THE PROPOSED PROCESS IS GREEN - I.E., IT DOES NOT USE TOXIC CHEMICALS AND SOLVENTS AND PRODUCES NO ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION. THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF LYCOPENE WILL BE INCREASED DUE TO CONVERSION OF TRANS-LYCOPENE INTO THE CIS FORM DURING PROCESSING, AND IT WILL HAVE AN IMPROVED STORAGE LIFE WITHOUT DEGRADATION. THE POWDER FORM OF OUR LYCOPENE END PRODUCTS WILL ALSO MAKE ITS HANDLING, STORAGE, AND TRANSPORTATION MORE CONVENIENT.