Lycopene- an anti-oxivore with wealth of benefits

Over the past few years, immense importance has been given to free radicals and anti-oxidants in the field of dentistry. Depending on the balance between their destruction and formation, free radicals can either be beneficial or deleterious to health. Stabilization of free radicals is done by anti-oxidants, thus preserving the cells from destruction. Hence, antioxidants that are prolific in our diet holds the interest of today’s dental community as an armoury to positively impact oral environment. One such anti-oxidant is lycopene. Lycopene, the red pigment of ripe tomatoes, watermelons, red chillies and guavas, is a tetraterpene with eight isoprene units composed entirely of carbon and hydrogen. This highly unsaturated hydrocarbon contains 11 conjugated and two nonconjugated carbon–carbon double bonds. It is a strong antioxidant and free radical-scavenger because it possesses the property of quenching singlet oxygen. This review article is an overview of various anti-oxidants in general and lycopene in particular.