Betalains cactus pear

Stintzing, F.C., Schieber, A., and Carle, R., Identification of betalains from yellow beet (Beta vulgaris L.) and cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill.) by high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, J. Agric. Food Chem., 50, 2302, 2002. 

After ingestion of cactus pear fruit pulp, both betanin and indicaxanthin were found in human plasma (with AUCo i2 h values of 0.46 and 29.2 lunol/hr/mL, respectively), partly associated with LDL, and in urine (3 and 76%, respectively, of the ingested compounds)," indicating that indicaxanthin was better absorbed than betanin. The bioavailability of indicaxanthin from prickly pear fruit pulp was 20 times that of betanin, suggesting differences in the fates of the two classes of betalains (betacyanin and betaxanthins) in the human body. In rats, betanin appeared to be... 

Proline, however, is the predominant amino acid and most interestingly, its betalamic acid adduct indicaxanthin is the major betalain pigment in cactus pear. Proline functions as an osmolyte, accumulating in water- and heat-stressed plant tissues, and in comparison to other amino acids, it exhibits an extraordinarily high solubility of 1623 mg/L water at 25°C. ... 

Besides their interesting color application values, betalainic plants are also worthwhile from a nutritional standpoint. Research on this topic has recently been resumed with great scientific vigor in both in vitro and in vivo studies on red beets, amaranth, red-colored Swiss chard, red-violet pitahayas, and especially cactus pears. ° In the future, betalainic color crops will be benchmarked because of their pigment structure and quantity and also because of the individual and synergistic activities of their components such as colorless phenolics, amino compounds, peptides, proteins, and hydrocolloids. 

Mosshammer, M.R., Stintzing, F.C., and Carle, R., Development of a process for the production of a betalain-based colouring foodstuff from cactus pear, Innov. Food Set Emerg. Technol, 6, 221, 2005. 

Gentile, C. et al.. Antioxidant betalains from cactus pear (Opuntia ficus- indica) fruit inhibit endothelial ICAM-1 expression, Ann. NY Acad. ScL, 1028, 481, 2004. 

Stintzing, RC. et al.. Color, betalain pattern and antioxidant properties of cactus pear (Opuntia sp.) clones, J. Agric. Food Chem., 53, 442, 2005. 

Mosshammer, M.R. et ah. Stability of yellow-orange cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-Mica [L.] Mill. cv. Gialla ) betalains as affected by the juice matrix and selected food additives, Eur. Food Res. TechnoL, 225, 21, 2007. 

Fig. 2.152. HPLC patterns of betalains from cactus pear studies. Peak 1 = indicaxanthin (fR = 16.8min) 2 = betanin (fR = 19.6min) 3 = isobetanin (fR = 22.8min). Reprinted with permission from J. A. Femandez-Lopez et al. [325],...

J.A. Fernandez-Lopez, R. Castellar, J.M. Oban and L. Almela, screening and mass-spectral confirmation of betalains in cactus pears. Chromatographia 56 (2002) 591-595. 

Betalains are a class of phytochemicals contained in some families of the Caryophyllaks order of plants, including the edible red beet (Tesoriere et al. 2005). In comparison with other types of plant secondary metabolites, little is known regarding the absorption and metabolism of betalains. These pigments were shown to incorporate into red blood cells and LDL of healthy volunteers after ingestion of cactus pear fruit pulp (Tesoriere et al. 2004, 2005). Maximum concentrations were reached by 3h after intake and betalains... 

Tesoriere, L., Butera, D., AUegra, M. etaL (2005) Distribution of betalain pigments in red blood cells after consumption of cactus pear fruits and increased resistance of the cells to ex vivo induced oxidative hemolysis in humans. /. Agric. Food Chem., 53,1266-1270. 

As for anthocyanins, betalains are found in vacuoles and cytosols of plant cells. From the various natural sources of betalains, beetroot (Beta vulgaris) and prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus indica) are the only edible sources of these compounds. In the food industry, betalains are less commonly used as natural colorants from plant sources than anthocyanins and carotenoids, probably related to their more restricted distribution in nature. To date, red beetroot is the only betalain source exploited for use as a natural food coloring agent. The major betalain in red beetroot is betanin (or betanidin 5-0-P-glucoside). Prickly pear fruits contain mainly (purple-red) betanin and (yellow-orange) indicaxanthin and the color of these fruits is directly related to the betanin-to-indicaxanthin ratio (99 to 1, 1 to 8, and 2 to 1, respectively in white, yellow, and red fruits)." ... 

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