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BACKGROUND Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a condition with a high incidence among adult men. Lycopene has been shown to lower blood glucose and reduce weight in diabetic patients due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. However, the association between lycopene and the incidence of ED is unclear. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine the dietary lycopene intake and its association with ED risk in the US population. MATERIALS AND METHODS We investigated the lycopene intake of adult participants with complete information on clinical variables from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2001 and 2004. Dose-response curve analysis was applied to explore the association between lycopene intake and ED. Logistic regression models were used to adjusted for confounders. Different ethnicities, BMI level, hypertension status, diabetes status and smoking status were analyzed as subgroups. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to eliminate the effects of potential confounders to confirm the reliability of the results. RESULTS A total of 3265 participants with data on lycopene consumption data were included in our study, including 931 individuals with ED and 2334 without ED during NHANES 2001-2004. We found more consumption of lycopene in the non-ED group compared to the ED group. Dose-response curve analysis revealed a significant negative association between lycopene intake and ED prevalence. After adjusting for age, race, cigarette smoking, BMI, annual family income, education, physical activity, hypertension, diabetes, depression and testosterone level, we found that increased lycopene intake reduced the odds ratio of ED. Low lycopene intake was positively related to ED in almost all subgroups especially in Mexican American, Non-Hispanic white, BMI<25, hypertension positive, DM negative and smoke negative. Furthermore, the results were confirmed in the 1:1 matched group. CONCLUSION Our national data suggest that lower dietary lycopene intake is positively associated with an increased risk of ED in US men. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.