Lycopene enzymatic cleavage

The second pathway is the eccentric cleavage that occurs at double bonds other than the central 15,15 -double bond of the P-carotene molecule to produce different products called P-apocarotenals with various chain lengths. Because only trace amounts of apocarotenals were detected in vivo from tissues of animals fed P-carotene and these compounds can be formed non-enzymatically from P-carotene auto-oxidation, the existence of this pathway was controversial until recently. The identification of P-carotene 9, 10 -oxygenase (BC02), which acts specifically at the 9, 10 double bond of P-carotene to produce P-apo-lO -carotenal and P-ionone, provided clear evidence of the eccentric cleavage pathway in vivo. Lycopene was also reported as a substrate for BC02 activity. 

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