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. 

Stintzing, F.C., Sebieber, A., Carle, R., Pbytocbemical and nutritional significance of cactus pear, Eur. Food Res. TechnoL, 212, 396, 2001. 

Mosshammer, M.R., Stintzing, F.C., and Carle, R., Evaluation of different methods for the production of juice concentrates and fruit powders from cactus pear, Innov. Food Sci. Emerg. TechnoL, 7, 275, 2006. 

Rodrfguez-Hernandez, G.R. et al.. Spray-drying of cactus pear juice (Opuntia strep-tacantha) effect on the physicochemical properties of powder and reconstituted product, Drying TechnoL, 23, 955, 2005. 

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... 

Cactus pear, previously known as prickly pear, has been mainly studied for its green fleshed pads known as nopalitos. It originates from Mexico but is cultivated in Chile and Peru, mainly for cochineal production, and also in the U.S. (California and Texas), South Africa, India, Israel, and the Mediterranean, amounting to a total of 100,000 hectares under cultivation. The cactus pear fruit is a berry with many seeds and a mean weight of 160 g. Its fruit pulp covers a color range from deep purple to green. " ... 

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. ... 

Odoux and Domlnguez-Lopez were the first to propose cactus pears for food coloring purposes. In-depth research was carried out by Stintzing and co-workers... 

These studies demonstrate that the processing of cactus pears into coloring preparations is feasible. It is now up to companies to exploit the enormous potential of these fruits. The by-products from Opuntia processing such as seeds and peels could be further processed into vegetable oil and pectin, respectively. 

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. 

Piga, A., Cactus pear a fruit of nutraceutical and functional importance, J. Profess. 

Tesoriere, L. et ah. Biothiols, taurine, and lipid-soluble antioxidants in the edible pulp of Sicilian cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) fruits and changes of bioactive juice components upon industrial processing, J. Agric. Food Chem., 53, 7851, 2005. 

Nobel, P.S., Environmental biology, m Agro-Ecology Cultivation and Uses of Cactus Pear, Barbera, G., Inglese, R, and Pimienta-Barrios, E., Eds., FAO Plant Production and Protection Paper, United Nations Pood and Agricultural Organization, Rome, 132, 36, 1993. 

Feugang, J.M. et al.. Nutritional and medicinal use of cactus pear (Opuntia spp.) cladodes and fruits. Frontiers BioscL, 11, 2574, 2006. 

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. 

Tesoriere, L. et al.. Supplementation with cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) fruit decreases oxidative stress in healthy humans a comparative smdy with vitamin C, Am. J. Clin. Nutr, 80, 391, 2004. 

Mosshammer, M.R. et al.. Impact of thermal treatment and storage on color of yellow-orange cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica [L.] Mill. cv. Gialla ) juices, J. Food Sci., 71, C400, 2006. 

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