Abstract: In this work,the effect of saponification reaction combined with organic solvent on the extraction of lycopene from Neurospora crassa was studied. The optimal conditions of saponification extraction process were investigated by single factor experiments and the response surface methodology,including saponification temperature,saponification time and NaOH concentration. Meanwhile,compared with β-carotene,V_Cand V_E,the scavenging ability of DPPH radical,hydroxyl radical and superoxide anion radical and FRAP value were determined to evaluate the antioxidant activity of lycopene from Neurospora crassa. The results showed that the optimum saponification conditions were as follows:Saponification temperature of 58 ℃,saponification time of 21 min,NaOH concentration of 0.06 mol/L. Under this condition,the extraction yield of lycopene was up to(1.620±0.011) mg/g,which was 38.46% higher than that without saponification treatment. Besides,the lycopene extract revealed good antioxidant activities in vitro. The highest scavenging rates of DPPH· and O₂^-·(86.43%,90.21%,respectively)were achieved when the concentration of lycopene was 250 μg/mL,while the lycopene of 1200 μg/mL had the strongest antioxidant against ·OH with 85.83% of scavenging rate.