Qualitative evaluation of fruits from different Opuntia ficus indica ecotypes/cultivars harvested in South Portugal

Abstract

Opuntia ficus‐indica fruits have an important nutritional value and show several biological properties. This work studied the fruit physicochemical characteristics of two wild ecotypes (“Green” and “Orange”) and two cultivars (“Rossa” and “Gialla”) from Portugal. The results showed that the largest and heaviest fruits were those from ecotype “Orange,”, whereas the wild ecotype “Green” had fruits with firmer flesh. The fruit peels of cultivars “Rossa” and “Gialla” presented the highest fibre content. Glucose was the major carbohydrate in the fruits, particularly in the peels. Malic acid was the sole organic acid in both peels and pulps of all samples. The betacyanins’ content was higher in fruits of the “Rossa” cultivar, and the higher betaxanthins’ content was present in the peel of the cultivar “Gialla.” Peels of all samples generally had higher amounts of betalains than the pulps. The peel was a better scavenger of DPPH and ABTS free radicals than the pulp.