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Introduction

The subject of lycopene content in autumn-olive berries was introduced by a local property owner whose land was covered with the invasive species Elaeagnus umbellata.  Invasive species out-compete native species and disrupt natural ecosystems.  One characteristic of autumn-olive plants that helps them out-compete natural vegetation is their ability to adapt to poor soil types because they have nitrogen-fixing root nodules (Fordham et al. 2001).  With autumn-olive abundantly dispersed throughout his property, the property owner sought information about the species.   He discovered that reports on the berries showed they contain a high lycopene content (Fordham et al., 2001).  He decided to pursue marketing the berries as a food source since lycopene has recently received attention as a beneficial substance.  He harvested the berries last fall and stored them in his freezer at -20oC. He is now attempting to market the berries, so he contacted us to determine the actual lycopene content of his crop currently being called "autumn berries".. 

Lycopene is a potent antioxidant found in watermelon, tomato, and red grapefruit and may exert numerous positive effects on human health (Fish et al.  2002). The effect of lycopene’s strong antioxidant properties may also help in regulating cholesterol metabolism (Sesso et al. 2003). This may minimize the effects of cholesterol on the heart muscle.  The effects of lycopene are also noticed in the eyes of people and the effect they have on cataracts because it offers protection to the lens (Mohanty et al. 2002).  Most of these studies where based on tomatoes and haven’t considered other fruits that have high amounts of lycopene. However, lycopene still remains the most important carotenoid in the diet of North Americans (Tawfak, 2002).  Autumn berries may offer people an alternative dietary form of lycopene.

            We conducted an experiment to see if the local autumn berries do in fact contain high amounts of lycopene.  This was done by comparing autumn berries to other fruits known for their lycopene content.