Cactus pear fruit seeds contain oil that can be utilized for human consumption. Forty‐two South African cultivars are evaluated over two seasons for seed oil content and fatty acid composition in an attempt to ascertain the best oil yielding cultivar. Seed oil content varied among cultivars and seasons and the yield ranged between 4.09 and 8.76% of seed mass. The unsaturated fatty acids are the most prominent and were dominated by linoleic acid, which varied between 56.86 and 65.21%, followed by oleic acid (16.44 and 22.51%), while the saturated fatty acids palmitic and stearic acid content ranged from 12.72 to 16.05% and from 2.21 to 3.39%, respectively. Cultivar and variation in rainfall have a statistically significant effect on cactus pear seed oil content and fatty acid composition. Principal Component Analysis show that certain cultivars are exclusively associated with specific characteristics. This is the most comprehensive study of the seed oil characteristics of the available cultivars in South Africa ever to be performed. The American Giant cultivar have the highest seed oil yield. Practical Applications: In a semi‐arid country such as South Africa, the value of by‐products and waste products from a drought resistant plant such as cactus pear should be emphasized. Cactus pear seed oil is a novel and expensive essential oil. The emergence of many small‐holding farms and small‐scale processing facilities necessitated a comprehensive investigation into the oil composition of all the available cactus pear cultivars. Essential knowledge regarding cultivar choice in terms of oil‐production and specific fatty acid composition, as well as seasonal effects thereon, is generated with this research. This research indicats that the American Giant (Opuntia ficus‐indica) cultivar have the highest oil yield wheras the Roly Poly cultivar have the highest linoleic acid content. This data will enable processors to make recommendations to producers to use cultivars with optimum yield and oil quality as production target. Cactus pear fruit seeds contain oil that can be utilized for human consumption. Forty‐two South African cultivars are evaluated over two seasons for seed oil content and fatty acid composition in an attempt to ascertain the best oil yielding cultivar.

Seven South African cactus pear varieties of Opuntia ficus indica and O. robusta were evaluated for seed oil content, fatty acid composition and oil quality. Oil quality parameters included refractive index, iodine value, peroxide value, free fatty acid content, p-anisidine value and oxidative stability index. Cultivars had oil contents ranging between 5.65% and 8.09%. Fatty acid unsaturation varied between 55.98% and 67.62% while fatty acid saturation varied between 16.59% and 20.71%. Iodine values of oil samples ranged between 110.68 and 126.24 g iodine absorbed by 100 g of oil. Peroxide values ranged between 9.50 and 33.67 meq O 2 /kg. The p-anisidine values ranged between 0.02 and 3.73 mmol/kg. These oils demonstrated a relatively low oxidative stability index ranging between 2.16 and 4.15 h. Oxidative stability showed significant correlations with the oil content, oleic acid, stearic acid and monounsaturated fatty acid contents. Physiochemical properties such as the peroxide value and the p-anisidine value were also significantly correlated with the oxidative stability index. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSCactus pear fruit seeds are considered as waste products and are discarded during processing of the fruit. Previous research has reported on the fatty acid content and composition of this edible oil which comprises of mostly unsaturated fatty acids. This oil is comparable to other seed oils such as rape seed and grape seed oil. The further investigation into the quality properties of cactus pear seed oil reported in this study will lead to better understanding and ultimately better utilization of this multipurpose crop. Cactus pear seed oil can be used not only in the food industry but also in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries and can be used to reduce waste products delivered during processing. Best oil producing cactus pear species and cultivars are identified and will benefit producers of cactus pears for the oil industry.

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