Search results for "Prickly pear"
showing 10 items of 13 documents
Cladode growth dynamics in Opuntia ficus-indica under drought
2016
Abstract Cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica L. Miller) is a CAM plant with an extraordinary capacity to store water in its succulent stems (cladodes). However, the daily variations of cladode thickness is unknown. Studying cladode thickness fluctuations may be useful for the early prediction of plant dehydration stress. The objective of this study was to determine if age, water availability and temperature influence diel cladode shrinkage and enlargement dynamics in cactus pear. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse from April to July 2014, using cactus pear plants, equally split into irrigated and unirrigated treatments, and unrooted cladodes detached from mother plants. Soil moistur…
Prickly Pear By-Product in the Feeding of Livestock Ruminants: Preliminary Investigation
2020
Simple Summary The question of sustainability of animal nutrition has become a popular topic. The gains made by recycling safe, yet otherwise valueless, by-products and wastes from human food and fiber production (green feeds) may lessen the competition between humans and animals for crops and decrease the environmental impact of food production. In this context, prickly pear by-product, which results from Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. fruits processed for juice extraction, could be an optimum by-product to ruminant feeding. This study evaluates the nutritional characteristics and its stability during storage using potassium metabisulfite as a preservative agent. This preliminary investig…
Antioxidant activities of sicilian prickly pear (Opuntia ficus indica) fruit extracts and reducing properties of its betalains: betanin and indicaxan…
2002
Sicilian cultivars of prickly pear (Opuntia ficus indica) produce yellow, red, and white fruits, due to the combination of two betalain pigments, the purple-red betanin and the yellow-orange indicaxanthin. The betalain distribution in the three cultivars and the antioxidant activities of methanolic extracts from edible pulp were investigated. In addition, the reducing capacity of purified betanin and indicaxanthin was measured. According to a spectrophotometric analysis, the yellow cultivar exhibited the highest amount of betalains, followed by the red and white ones. Indicaxanthin accounted for about 99% of betalains in the white fruit, while the ratio of betanin to indicaxanthin varied fr…
Strategies for the extension of the shelf life of ready to eat prickly pear fruits
2012
The prickly pear fruit (Opuntia ficus indica L. Miller) belongs to the Cactaceae family. The fruit is a berry, composed by an epicarp and the pulp, which represents the edible portion. At maturation, the epicarp turns yellow, red or white, depending on the cultivar. In Italy, the prickly pear is mainly cultivated in Sicily (90% of the national production). The fruit is very sensitive to low storage temperatures (< 5°C) which cause chilling injuries. The fruits can be successfully commercialized as a ready-to-eat product, peeled and suitably packaged. The main limit to its production is the formation of off-flavours due to different factors, such as the growth of microorganism and the action…
Economic and Technical Feasibility of Betanin and Pectin Extraction from Opuntia ficus-indica Peel via Microwave-Assisted Hydrodiffusion
2019
Investigating the feasibility of betanin and pectin extraction from Opuntia ficus-indica peel via microwave-assisted hydrodiffusion and gravity, this study identifies selected important economic and technical aspects associated with this innovative production route starting from prickly pear fruit discards. Which benefits would be derived from this process? Would production be limited to Opuntia-growing countries or, likewise to what happens with dried lemon peel chiefly imported from Argentina, would production take place abroad also? Can distributed manufacturing based on clean extraction technology compete with centralized production using conventional chemical processes?
Use of xanthan gum as edible coating to prolong shelf life of cactus pear fruit
2022
The objective of this work was to elucidate the effect of xanthan gum-based edible coating C35H49O29 on the quality of cactus pear fruit (Opuntia ficus-indica). The research was conducted in 2018, on O. ficus-indica ‘Bianca’ fruit, coming from second bloom “scozzolatura”. After harvest, 100 fruits were coated with a xantan gum (XAN) and distilled water and on other 100 fruits were immersed in distilled water (CTR). All fruits were stored at 6±0.5°C with RH 90% for 30 days. Every 7 days, visual quality browning index score, flesh colour, total soluble solids (TSS), total acidity (TA), ascorbic acid and total phenols were measured. During cold storage, fruit treated with XAN (p<0.05) showe…
Opuntia cladodes as functional ingredient in durum wheat bread: rheological, sensory, and chemical characterization
2021
Cladodes are considered by-products of Opuntia ficus-indica cultivation. Their addition as source of antioxidants to durum wheat breads could have effects on preventing cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and inflammation. The inclusion of 0-5-10-15% cladodes, harvested in three different locations, on quality and antioxidant properties of fortified durum wheat breads has been evaluated. The enrichment with 10% of cladodes resulted in an increase in the content of total phenolics (14.8 vs 2.7 mg GAE/100 g of control bread), a decrease of IC50 (3.28 vs 49.7 mg/ml of control bread), good rheological characteristics of loaves and largely positive evaluation by panel test. Fortification with 15% …
Volatile profiles of Sicilian prickly pear (Opuntia ficus indica) by SPME-GC/MS analysis
2005
The aroma compounds present in the headspace of homogenized slurries of fresh prickly pears (Opuntia ficus-indica) from Sicilian cultivars were determined. Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) followed by Gas-chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis was used to characterize the volatile compounds. The volatile flavour profiles of the three cultivars investigated (red, white and yellow) showed significant differences. The aromatic profile of peeled prickly pears stored for one day was different from the one of the fresh samples, mainly due to the occurrence of some oxidative and hydrolytic reactions
Increased resistance to oxidation of betalain-enriched human low density lipoproteins
2003
Betalains are natural pigments recently considered as compounds with potential antioxidative properties. In this work, ex vivo plasma spiking of pure either betanin or indicaxanthin, followed by isolation of low density lipoprotein (LDL), and measurement of its resistance to copper-induced oxidation, has been used to research if these betalains can bind to LDL and prevent oxidation of LDL lipids. When pooled human plasma from 10 healthy volunteers was incubated in the presence of 25-100 microM either betanin or indicaxanthin, incorporation of both compounds in LDL was observed, with a maximum binding of 0.52 +/- 0.08, and 0.51 +/- 0.06 nmoles of indicaxanthin and betanin, respectively, per …
Novel functional chitosan and pectin bio-based packaging films with encapsulated Opuntia-ficus indica waste
2021
Abstract The aim of this work was to study the effect of adding red prickly pear, as wasted source of antioxidants on various characteristics of novel functional (antioxidant) chitosan and pectin film formulations. Four types of prickly pear material were used: fruit pulp or peel, as powdered extracts and as aqueous extracts. Prickly pear peel extract was shown to possess higher antioxidant properties than fruit pulp. The antioxidant power of extracts was pretty high, around 1000 mgAAE∙100 g−1 for extract and that of all films around 100 mgAAE∙100 g−1 for films. Even though some changes in thickness, moisture content, water solubility, oxygen permeability and water vapor permeability of fil…