Exploitation of Mediterranean organic prickly

pears (Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill.) as

functional food for sustainable food systems

N. Thligene*1 and I. Cavoski2

1 Department of Science and Technology, University of Parthenope, Naples, Italy

2 CIHEAM-MAIB Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, Valenzano, Italy

* Nadia Thligene: nadia.thligene@uniparthenope.it

Exploitation of Mediterranean organic prickly pears (Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill.) as functional food

for sustainable food systems

1. Introduction

2. Materials and Methods

3. Results and discussion

4. Conclusion

19/07/2016 2

Exploitation of Mediterranean organic prickly pears

(Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill.) as functional food for

sustainable food systems

7/18/2016 3

Exploitation of Mediterranean organic prickly pears

(Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. )as functional food for

sustainable food systems

7/18/2016 4

Jendouba: cv. Amles, Chawki,

Hbari

Kasserine:

cv. Amles, Chawki, Hbari

Le Kef: cv. Hbari

Puglia: cv. Gialla

Puglia:

cv. Bianca , Rossa, Gialla

Sicily: cv. Bianca , Sulfurina

Sicily: cv. Sanguigna,Gialla,

Muscaredda

Sardegna:cv. Bianca Sarda, Gialla Sarda,

Rossa Sarda, Bianca Sciciliana,Rossa

Sciciliana,“Gialla Sciciliana, ,Rossa San

Cono, Bianca Bronte Spine

JAP

JCP

JHP

KAP

KCP

KHP

SWP

SYP

SRP

SeRP

SeYP

SrWP

SrYP

SrRP

SrWsP

SrYsPSrRsP

SrRscP

SrWsP

PWP

PRP

PGP

PAP

PFP

-3

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

--ax

is F

2 (4

0.75

%)

-->

-- axis F1 (54.11 %) -->

Principal component analysis of fruits color

Purple

White

Orange

0Tunisian

Italian

Cultivars

Fruits color

PHASES

I II III

Characterization

Experiment flow chart

Tunisia and

Italy

Morphological,

chemical and physical

FRAP, DPPH and

TEAC

Sampling

Fruits and cladodes were

collected from eight organic

farms in Italy and Tunisia

regions and 24 different

cultivars were under

investigation

Nutritional

value and

functional

properties

Total phenolic contents

were assayed according to

Folin-Ciocalteu method.

And antioxidant activities

Exploitation of Mediterranean organic prickly pears

(Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. as functional food for

sustainable food systems

7/18/2016 5

Total polyphenolic content and antioxidant activities of prickly pear fruits and cladoes

0

11

22

33

44

55

66

Dis

sim

ilarity

Dendrogram

JC

F

JH

F

KA

F

JA

F

KC

F

SY

F

KH

F

SW

F

SrW

sF

SrW

bF

Srw

F

SeY

F

SrY

F

SrY

sF

PA

F

PR

F

PW

F

PG

F

SrR

F

SrR

sF

SrR

ScF

SR

F

SeR

F

PF

F0

25

50

75

100

125

150

Dis

sim

ilarity

Dendrogram

KCC

KHC

JAC

JCC

JHC

KAC

SYC

SeR

C

SeYC

SRC

PWC

PGC

SWC

SrR

C

SrW

C

SrW

sC

SrYs

C

SrW

bC

SrYC

PRC

PAC

SrR

sC

SrR

scC

PFC

L* a* b* C* h

Total polyphenols -0.314 -0.180 -0.297 -0.462 -0.032

DPPH -0.492 -0,207 -0.418 -0.499 -0.095

FRAP -0.344 -0.135 0.004 0.030 0.083

TEAC -0.228 -0.364 0.054 -0.034 0.280

L* lightness (from 0 presenting black to 100 presenting white), a* redness-greenness, b* yellow-blueness, C* chroma (saturation) , H - Hue (the angle; starting with 0 in the +a* direction)

L* a* b* C* h

Total polyphenols 0.586 -0.364 0.675 0.665 -0.655

DPPH 0.310 -0.234 0.508 0.485 -0.532

FRAP 0.579 -0.450 0.757 0.735 -0.722

TEAC 0.558 -0.436 0.769 0.748 -0.737

Clustering of cladodes and fruits based on total polyphenolic content and antioxidant

activities Correlation matrixes of functional properties with color Conclusion

This study, highlighted potential of prickly pears for novel

applications as food, dietary supplements or pharmaceuticals.

O. ficus-indica (L.) might be “A treasure that lies behind the

spines” and its exploitation through new approaches may

contribute to sustainability of Mediterranean organic food

systems.

Biotechnological valorisation of prickly pears seems to be

promising.