Prickly Pear Seed Oil by Shelf-Grown Cactus Fruits: Waste or Maste?

Abstract

The chemical composition and properties of seed oils have attracted researchers nowadays. By this meaning, the physicochemical and bioactivity profile of prickly pear seed oil (PPSO) (a product of prickly pear fruits waste) were investigated. Seeds of shelf-grown cactus fruits (Opuntia ficus indica L.) were subjected to analysis. Moisture content (gravimetric analysis), seed content (gravimetric analysis), oil yield (Soxhlet extraction/gravimetric analysis), volatile compounds (HS-SPME/GC-MS), fatty acids profile (GC-FID), in vitro antioxidant activity (DPPH assay), and total phenolic content (Folin-Cioacalteu assay) were determined. Results showed that prickly pear seeds had a moisture content of 6.0 ± 0.1 g/100 g, whereas the oil yield ranged between 5.4 ± 0.5 g/100 g. Furthermore, the PPSO had a rich aroma because of acids, alcohols, aldehydes, esters, hydrocarbons, ketones, and other compounds, with the major volatiles being 2-propenal, acetic acid, pentanal, 1-pentanol, hexanal, 2-hexenal, heptanal, 2-heptenal (Z), octanal, 2-octenal, nonanal, 2,4-decadienal (E,E), and trans-4,5-epoxy-(E)-2-decenal. Among the fatty acids, butyric, palmitic, stearic, and oleic acids were the dominant. Finally, the pure PPSO had a high in vitro antioxidant activity (84 ± 0.010%) and total phenolic content (551 ± 0.300 mg of gallic acid equivalents/L). PPSO may be then used as a beneficial by-product, in different food systems as a flavoring, antioxidant, and nutritional agent.

Phytochemistry and biological activities of Opuntia seed oils: Opuntia dillenii (Ker Gawl.) Haw. and Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. A review

“…The results demonstrated a significant antioxidant property of this seed oil, which is superior to the ascorbic acid and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) used as references [22]. Also, in another work, the seed oil from O. ficus-indica showed a high antioxidant activity in vitro (84.00±0.01%) [38]. The red and yellow O. ficus--indica seed oils obtained using Soxhlet as an extraction .019 μg/ml).…”

“…4) [10]. In another study, it was shown that O. ficus-indica seed oil consists of a total phenolic content of 551.0±0.3 mg GAE/L [38]. A study carried out by Khémiri et al on O. ficus-indica seed oil from Tunisia indicated that this oil has a carotenoid content of 10.520 mg/kg oil, total chlorophyll content of 4.57 mg/kg oil, a flavonoid content of 3.1 mg QE/g oil and total phenolic content of 26.5 mg GAE/g oil [39].…”

“…These compounds could be grouped into alcohol (9.13%), acids (2.70%), esters (2.82%), aldehydes (62.72%), ketones (4.38%), hydrocarbons (5.06%) and other compounds (12.71%). The most dominant volatile compounds are aldehydes, and among them, pentanal, 2-propenal, hexanal, heptanal, 2-hexenal, octanal, 2-octenal, 2-heptenal, and trans-4,5-epoxy-(E)-2-decenal, nonanal 2,4-decadienal (E recorded the highest proportions) [38]. Also, Zito et al reported that O. ficus-indica seed oil obtained from Sanguigna cultivar grown in Sicily, contains mainly hydrocarbons (38.5%), fatty acids and derivatives (31.9%), and terpenes (12.4%), while the seed oil obtained from Surfarina cultivar grown in the same region contains higher contents of fatty acids and derivatives (68.9%), followed by terpenes (10.9%) [41].…”

Acute and Subacute Toxicity and Cytotoxicity of Opuntia Dillenii (Ker-Gawl) Haw. Seed Oil and Its Impact on the Isolated Rat Diaphragm Glucose Absorption

“…The analyzed seed oil’s components demonstrated that it contains considerable amounts of linoleic acid and sterols (unsaturated fatty acids), such as β-sitosterol and the presence of γ-tocopherol (vitamin E) [ 2 ]. Additionally, the oil is characterized by the presence of other substances such as phenols, well known for their health benefit [ 3 , 4 ]. Several kinds of research on this plant’s fruit seed oil have shown that it has numerous activities such as antioxidant [ 5 ], hepatoprotective [ 6 ], antilipidemic, antidiabetic, and antidiabetogenic [ 7 , 8 ].…”

Phenolic Content and Antioxidant, Antihyperlipidemic, and Antidiabetogenic Effects of Opuntia dillenii Seed Oil

“…At the same time, γ -tocopherol is the only vitamin E present in this oil [ 3 ]. Besides, it is characterized by the presence of other components such as phenols [ 4 ]. All of which may contribute to human health [ 5 ].…”