Profile of Volatile Aroma-Active Compounds of Cactus Seed Oil (Opuntia ficus-indica) from Different Locations in Morocco and Their Fate during Seed Roasting

Abstract

Volatile compounds from oils extracted from cactus seeds (Opuntia ficus-indica) of five regions of Morocco were analyzed by dynamic headspace-GC/MS. Aroma active compounds were characterized by olfactometry. A total of 18 compounds was detected with hexanal, 2-methyl propanal, acetaldehyde, acetic acid, acetoin and 2,3-butanedione as most abundant. Olfactometric analysis showed that those compounds are aroma active; therefore, cactus seed oil flavor can be attributed to those compounds. Moreover, the effect of roasting of cactus seeds on the composition of volatile compounds in the oil was investigated. Especially the concentration of compounds known as products from the Maillard reaction increased significantly with roasting time such as furfural, furan, 3-methyl furan, 2-butanone, thiophene, 2, 3- dithiabutane, methyl pyrazine, 2-methyl pyrimidine, 2-metoxy phenol, dimethyl trisulfide and 5-methyl furfural.

Effect of seeds roasting time on physicochemical properties, oxidative stability, and antioxidant activity of cactus ( Opuntia ficus‐indica L.) seed oil

“…Roasting of seeds was carried out at 110 ± 5℃ for 10, 20, 30 or 40 min using a roaster with continuous mixing of the material. The temperature was monitored using a Testo 945 thermometer sensor (Testo, Casablanca, Morocco;Nounah et al, 2020).…”

Prickly Pear Seed Oil Extraction, Chemical Characterization and Potential Health Benefits

“…Mechanical extraction using an electric powered screw press was used for extracting PPSO [ 19 ]. The extraction process was followed by centrifugation of the oil for 15 min at 3000 rpm to separate it from the sediment; no yield of the extracted oil was reported in this study.…”

“…In this regard, the profile of volatile aroma-active compounds of PPSO has been reported [ 19 ]. The study has determined the profile of volatile compounds of PPSO extracted by the cold press method from five different regions of Morocco.…”

“…Even though a viable PPSO on the market is used mainly as a cosmetic ingredient, studies that have shown the activity of PPSO as a good cosmetic product are very limited. In this regard, the authors of [ 19 ] investigated the effect of PPSO on human dermic fibroblasts using a primary fibroblast culture of human skin. PPSO was applied at 10, 50, 100, and 200 µM, and then the culture cells were submitted to UV radiation in a crosslink for 15 min after that.…”

“…The PPSO is reported to have several biological activities, including antioxidant in vivo [ 9 ] and in vitro [ 10 , 11 ], antimicrobial [ 12 , 13 ], antidiabetic [ 3 , 6 , 14 , 15 ], lipid-lowering [ 14 ], in vitro anticancer [ 12 , 15 ], anti-inflammatory [ 9 , 16 ], anti-ulcer [ 17 ] and UV radiation protection of human dermic fibroblasts reducing the cell death [ 18 ]. Based on the literature, the oil content in prickly pear seeds is considered low compared to other seeds and the extracted oil is commercialized mainly for cosmetics due to the high price resulting from the time-consuming and laborious process of production [ 19 ]. Analysis and physicochemical properties of the PPSO showed that it is edible and suitable for human consumption.…”