Natural tomato extract / oleoresin lycopene (Lycopersicon esculentum, Solanum lycopersicum; Lyc-O-Mato, Tomat-O-Red, LycoBeads)
Natural tomato extract / oleoresin lycopene (Lycopersicon esculentum, Solanum lycopersicum; Lyc-O-Mato, Tomat-O-Red, LycoBeads) is a unrated form of Lycopene, used in 222 on-market products .
Why this tier: A row whose own name is a brand (Lyc-O-Mato, Tomat-O-Red, LycoBeads) declares tomato-extract mass, not lycopene, and is kept unresolved. Most common labeled source. Tomato-derived (Lyc-O-Mato) and synthetic (Lycovit beadlet) lycopene gave equivalent serum responses at 15 mg/day for 28 days (Hoppe 2003), and oleoresin and beadlets both raised buccal-cell lycopene while tomato juice did not (Paetau 1999), so no source is ranked above another.
Source: Hoppe PP et al. 2003, Eur J Nutr 42(5):272-278, PMID 14564460; Paetau I et al. 1999, Am J Clin Nutr 70(4):490-494, PMID 10500017; Ried K, Fakler P 2011, Maturitas 68(4):299-310, PMID 21163596 (efficacy meta-analysis; source form not compared)