ABSTRACT
Nutritional health of the people has become the prime concern of health authorities in many countries. In the developing countries of Africa and South East Asia, the majority of the people suffer nutritional deficiencies resulting in various health disorders. The therapeutic efficacy of dietary supplements, especially antioxidants, is being explored for almost all diseases. Cataract, the opacification of the eye lens, is one disease in which oxidative stress plays a major role. A large number of antioxidants have been investigated for their role in prevention of development and progression of cataract. Lycopene is one potent antioxidant that has been reported to protect against the development as well as progression of cataract. This chapter presents the pathophysiology of cataract development, the role of antioxidants, and in vivo as well in vitro experiments to reveal potential benefits of lycopene in medical management of cataract. In view of the results of the above-mentioned studies, nutritional antioxidants such as lycopene are now being given prime importance in therapeutics, since they are already being used by the population and the risk of adverse events is less on long-term administration.
