Recent insights on pharmacological potential of lycopene and its nanoformulations: an emerging paradigm towards improvement of human health

Nutritional antioxidants derived from phytochemicals have been shown to have multifaceted health benefits via the pleiotropic molecular mechanisms. Lycopene is one such aliphatic hydrocarbon carotenoid with no beta-ionone and imparts red coloration to watermelon, tomatoes, and papayas. It is a potent antioxidant and free radical scavenger owing to the presence of 13 carbon–carbon double bonds, out of which 11 are conjugated and the remaining 2 are non-conjugated. It has many biological effects on different types of cancers like prostate, breast, skin, and oral cancer by targeting the Keap1-NF-kB, Keap1-Nrf 2 and PI3K/AKT/m-TOR signalling pathway. In addition to cancer, lycopene also has the ability to modify the gut microbiome, and also work against SARS-CoV-2. This review focuses on the sources, isomers, metabolites, therapeutic targets, mechanistic action, nanoformulations, pharmacokinetics, completed and ongoing clinical trials. In addition to above we are adding the potential ability of lycopene in obesity, infertility, metabolic disorder, gut microbiome, and COVID-19 treatment.