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This research analyzed the volatile composition of the fruits pulp of six prickly pear cultivars (NT, NE, NO, NA, FR, and ORI) growing in Spain, by headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography (GC-MS and GC-FID). A total of 35 compounds were isolated, identified, and quantified, with aldehydes, alcohols, and terpenes being the predominant chemical families, and esters, ketones, linear hydrocarbons, and terpenoids being also found. Nonanol, 2,6-nonadienal, 1-hexanol, 2-hexenal, and D-limonene were the predominant compounds. NT and FR cultivars showed the highest concentration of total volatile compounds. On the other hand, NE and NO cultivars presented the lowest concentration. Future studies on sensory evaluation are required to determine the sensory quality of the fruits of these Spanish cultivars.

Wild prickly pear (Opuntia dillenii Haw.) is one of the wild fruit with great importance because of its high antioxidants, colour pigments and other quality parameters besides its medicinal properties. In India, there are only a limited number of reports pertaining to utilization of this fruit which further lack the development of value added novel products. So, the present studies were carried out for the development of spiced squash or appetizer from wild prickly pear fruit and its quality evaluation during storage. Different combinations of fruit juice (25, 30, 35 and 40 %) and sugar syrup (40 and 45 °B) were tried to standardize a proper combination for appetizer. The appetizer prepared by using the best recipe with 35 % juice, 45 °B TSS (Total soluble solids) and 1.20 % acidity was packed in two packaging materials viz. glass and PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) bottles which were further stored for six months under ambient and refrigerated temperature conditions. Appetizer packed in glass as well as in PET packaging material can be stored successfully for a period of six months under both the temperature conditions. However, various quality parameters of appetizer were retained higher in glass bottles stored under refrigerated storage conditions.

Prickly pear (Opuntia spp.) fruit is highly perishable because of the high moisture and soluble solids content. The utilization of prickly pear fruit to produce preserves like marmalade receives particular attention from food industry. The production of prickly pear marmalade is a complex process and affected by several parameters such as water, pectin, sugar, and acid levels. This chapter aims to review the manufacturing process of prickly pear marmalade.

Prickly pear fruit is rich in natural pigments and bioactive compounds that contribute to its antioxidant capacity and health-promoting properties. These compounds can be extracted using pulsed electric fields (PEF), a non-thermal technology that is energy efficient and is being increasingly used for food processing. For that end, a novel electroporation chamber was designed and optimum pulse parameters were selected maximizing juice yield and bioactive compounds extraction. The chamber consists of 5 rows of 10 parallel needles, and the optimum pulse parameters were: Sixty 100 μs long pulses of 1200 V/cm at a frequency of 10 Hz. The average energy input was 11.44 kJ/kg (temperature rise below 10 °C). When comparing PEF-treated samples with untreated ones, juice yield increased 3.3 times, and betalain extraction 1.48 times. Also, the juice extracted had a significantly higher total polyphenol content (1.4 times), and antioxidant capacity (1.4–1.5 times increase, measured by three techniques). This chamber and procedure could be scaled for industrial applications since large samples can be treated without the need of adding conductive medium or peeling the fruits, simplifying the procedure and reducing costs. PEF treatment of prickly pear fruits can effectively provide juice rich in natural colorants and with higher nutritional properties.

Hand harvesting of prickly pear fruits is greatly inefficient; it is slow and expensive, field conditions are arduous, unsafe and risky. Prickly pear plant is entirely covered with thorns, while fruit has easily detachable microscopic hairs that stuck in bare skin; scaring off untrained workers. A mobile mechanical machine for picking prickly pear fruits was designed, fabricated and evaluated for its performance and techno-economic feasibility. Some physical and mechanical properties (dimensions, mass, volume, density, static coefficient of friction and shear force) of prickly pear fruits that are pertinent to the mechanical processing were measured and considered by the design of the machine. The developed machine was evaluated at two power source (mechanical and manual) and mechanical source provides two levels of crank speed (40 and 60 rpm). The evaluation was based on the following parameters: productivity, fruit damage, consumed energy and picking cost comparing with hand picking.The obtained results of the developed machine gave positive results for evaluation criteria. The productivity increased by 171.4 %, minimizes the fruit damage by 42.4 %, decreased consumed energy by 13.28 times and decreased picking cost by 29.8 % comparingwith hand picking method.

This study investigated the antiurolithiasic effects of the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of cactus prickly pear fruit in male Wistar rats. The effect of oral administration of cactus fruit extrac...

Background and Objectives: There is confusion as to which component of the Opuntia spp. cacti has demonstrated anti-hyperglycemic effects or anti-diabetic properties. It is important to clarify these health benefits due to the increasing need for prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. The aim of this review is to identify the effects of Opuntia spp. cacti consumption on biomedical measures; glucose and insulin with consideration of its’ components; fruit, leaf and combined or unidentified Opuntia spp. products. Materials and Methods: Prior to commencing the searches, this systematic review was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42018108765). Following the PRISMA 2009 guidelines, six electronic databases (Food Science and Technology Abstracts (EBSCO), Medline, Scopus, CINAHL, Web of Science and Cochrane) were searched for articles investigating the effect of Opuntia spp. consumption on glucose and insulin in humans. Results: Initially, 335 articles were sourced and filtered by exclusion criteria (human interventions, control trials and articles published in English) resulting in 20 relevant articles. The included studies were characterized by such plant components as fruit (n = 4), cladode (n = 12), and other Opuntia spp. products (n = 4), further separated by clinical populations (‘healthy’, hyperlipidemic, hypercholesterolemic, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus). The findings of this review indicate variations in effects between cacti components and products. Cladode and select Opuntia spp. products predominately demonstrated significant reductions in serum glucose and insulin, indicating potential as a functional food candidate. Prickly Pear fruit was predominately reported to have no significant effects on glucose or insulin. The quality of evidence appeared to vary based on the type of Opuntia spp. product used. Studies that used specifically the fruit or cladode had high risk of bias, whereas studies which used combined Opuntia spp. products had a lower risk of bias. Numerous mechanisms of action were proposed where positive findings were reported, with emphasis on dualistic glucose-dependent and independent actions, however, mechanisms require further elucidation. Conclusion: Currently, there is a lack of evidence to support the recommendation of using Opuntia spp. fruit products as an alternative or complementary therapy in the reduction of risk or management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. The Cladode does however show promise in potential glucose-lowering effects which warrant further investigation.

The current dietary recommendations for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk reduction include increased fruit and vegetable consumption. The Opuntia spp., Prickly Pear (PP) fruit is rich in dietary fiber and may have lipid-lowering effects but it is often confused with the PP stem/leaf (Cladode (CLD)), or not identified. The efficacy of the PP fruit and CLD in reducing CVD risk is a growing area of research.This systematic review (PROSPERO: CRD42018110643), examined the effects of consuming the Opuntia spp. components (PP or CLD) on CVD risk factors, specifically total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglycerides (TG). The review, performed from February through September 2019, used resources available through Food Science and Technology Abstracts (EBSCO), Medline, Scopus, CINAHL, Web of Science and Cochrane databases.Eleven articles met the inclusion criteria, which characterised Opuntia spp. products as either PP (n = 6), CLD (n = 4) or commercial products' (n=1). Effects were investigated in healthy and obese populations as well as those with metabolic illnesses, specifically type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. PP consumption was associated with significant reductions in TC (p 0.05) in all but one included study, whereas in the remaining studies (n=6), LDL-C levels decreased (p 0.05). Separately, the effect of CLD consumption on lipids was small with one study reporting a significant increase in plasma HDL-C in a subgroup of participants (45 years of age) following consumption of a patented CLD powder product. It is plausible, that differences in overall effect may be due to compositional distinctions between CLD and PP, such as fiber composition. Care must be taken in future studies to accurately report the identity of the selected components of Opuntia spp.

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were assembled by using the bougainvillea flowers, red turnip and the purple wild Sicilian prickly pear fruit juice extracts as natural sensitizers of TiO(2) films. The yellow orange indicaxanthin and the red purple betacyanins are the main components in the cocktail of natural dyes obtained from these natural products. The best overall solar energy conversion efficiency of 1.7% was obtained, under AM 1.5 irradiation, with the red turnip extract, that showed a remarkable current density (Jsc = 9.5 mA/cm(2)) and a high IPCE value (65% at lambda = 470 nm). Also the purple extract of the wild Sicilian prickly pear fruit showed interesting performances, with a Jsc of 9.4 mA/cm(2), corresponding to a solar to electrical power conversion of 1.26%.

Growth and compositional changes in prickly pear (Opuntia spp.) fruit during the development of four species (O. ficus-indica, O. inermis, O. hyptiacantha and O. lind- heimeri) were studied. The weight and size of fruits belonging to O. ficus-indica, O. hyptiacantha and O. lindheimeri generally followed a single sigmoid growth pattern while fruits belonging to O. inermis followed a double sigmoid growth pattern. In all species, soluble solids and ascorbic acid contents increased with a concomitant decrease in titrat- able acidity as fruits matured. O. hyptiacantha consistently had the highest soluble solids and ascorbic acid contents and the lowest titratable acidity while O. lindeimeri consistently had the lowest soluble solids and ascorbic acid contents and highest titratable acidity throughout ontogeny. Although significant differences in soluble solids and ascorbic acid contents were observed, all four prickly pear species exhibited similar trends in compositional changes with growth. Attributes that ...

SummaryPostharvest studies of the whole tuna (prickly pear) fruit conducted at 20° ± 1°C and r.h. 60–65% indicated a respiratory pattern similar to that of citrus fruits. This was confirmed by using Warburg’s technique employing peel tissue discs in citrate-citrate buffer of pH 5.2. The results suggested that tuna fruit use a multiple substrate of organic acids and sugars during postharvest respiration. No respiratory climacteric was observed.

The color stability of betacyanine from prickly pear was determined in the fruit juice at temperatures up to 90 °C. The degradation rates were dependent on pigment concentration, being slower for higher concentrations. The lack of a significant oxygen effect or inhibitory action of ascorbic acid did not support autooxidation as the exclusive chemical process responsible for decolorization.

RELATED STUDIES Taylor and Vorhies (10) reported extensive eating of cactus pads and stems by jack rabbits in Arizona. The eating of the prickly pear fruit by animals has been reported from various sources. Phillips (4) observed in South Africa that cattle, goats, baboons, monkeys and birds eat the prickly pear fruits and disseminate the seed. Darnell-Smith (3) reported that the Emu, black magpie, rabbits and cattle ate the prickly pears. The rabbits appeared to have ground most of the seed during mastication but the others were credited with scattering the seed. Timmons and Wenger (9) reported the jack rabbits eating prickly pear cactus fruits in West Central Kansas and disseminating the seed in their fecal pellets. Clements and Shelford (1) reported the golden flicker and Indian road runner as including cactus fruits in their diets. Cook (2) reported rabbits and rodents as being among the chief disseminators of prickly pear seed in the Central Great Plains.