Monitoring of seed composition of prickly pear (Opuntia ficus‐indica L) fruits during maturation period

Abstract

Prickly pear fruit seeds were subjected to a range of chemical analyses during their 15 week maturation period. Seeds contained on average 71.5 g kg −1 dry matter, 61.9 g kg −1 crude oil, 9.4 g kg −1 protein, 507.4 g kg −1 crude fibre, 12.3 g kg −1 ash and 409.0 g kg −1 carbohydrate. The fatty acid composition of prickly pear seed oil consisted of 1.3-1.9 g kg −1 myristic (14:0), 132.1-156.0 g kg −1 g kg −1 arachidic (20:0) and 2.1-3.0 g kg −1 behenic (22:0) acids, which is comparable with that of corn oil. No statistical difference in seed weight ratio was determined during the maturation period, whereas changes in the saturated fatty acids of the seed oil were observed. From this study it can be concluded that the seeds of prickly pear are suitable as animal feed.

South African Cactus Pear Seed Oil: A Comprehensive Study on 42 Spineless Burbank Opuntia ficus‐indica and Opuntia robusta Cultivars

“…The oil content obtained from the 42 cultivars ranged from 4.09% for Corfu to 8.76% for American Giant. Higher oil content values than the present study were reported by CoS skuner and Tekin [32] (6.91%), Salvo et al [21] (9.14%), and Ramadan and Mörsel [12,13] (9.9%). Labuschagne and Hugo [18] obtained slightly lower values ranging from 2.24 to 5.69% for the 11 cultivars they studied.…”

“…Cultivars recorded an average oil content of 6.36% (Table 3). [31][32][33] Seed oil content from O. ficus-indica (5-14.4%) [19,34] are lower than the seed oil content of mahaleb cherry (18.5%), black thorn (16.5%), cotton seed (15-24%), soybean (17-21%), grape seed (6-20%), and olive (20-25%). These included the same cultivars than in the present study, although cultivated at a different agroecological region in South Africa.…”

Characterization of Opuntia ficus indica seed oil from Tunisia

“…The observed difference in the percentage of oleic (16.8%) and palmitic (9.32%) acids could be due to the degree of maturity of the fruit. According to the literature, there is an increase in saturated fatty acid content towards the end of fruit maturation [7]. The high amount of linoleic acid could be a particular feature of Tunisian prickly pear seed oil compared to the Turkish cultivar (57.7-53.8%) [7] and the German cultivar (53.5%) [8].…”

Opuntia ficus-indica

“…Opuntia ficus-indica seeds were found to contain on average 71.5 g/kg dry matter, 61.9 g/kg crude oil, 9.4 g/kg protein, 507.4 g/kg crude fibre, 12.3 g/kg ash and 409.0 g/kg carbohydrate (Coskuner and Tekin 2003). The fatty acid composition of prickly pear seed oil consisted of 1.3-1.9 g/kg myristic (14:0), 132.1-156.0 g/kg palmitic (16:0), 14.4-18.5 g/kg palmitoleic (16:1), 33.1-47.9 g/kg stearic (18:0), 210.5-256.0 g/kg oleic (18:1), 522.5-577.6 g/kg linoleic (18:2), 2.9-9.7 g/ kg linolenic (18:3), 4.2-6.6 g/kg arachidic (20:0) and 2.1-3.0 g/kg behenic (22:0) acids, which was comparable with that of corn oil.…”

“…The seeds of prickly pear are also suitable as animal feed (Coskuner and Tekin 2003). Local dairymen assert that nopalito pads are important for good lactation, imparts a better flavour and quality to the milk and enhances better quality for butter.…”