International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition,

August 2011; 62(5): 533–536

Nutritive value and chemical composition of prickly pear seeds (Opuntia

ficus indica L.) growing in Turkey

MEHMET MUSA ÖZCAN1 & FAHAD Y. AL JUHAIMI2

1
Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural, Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey, and 2Department of Food Science
& Nutrition, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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Abstract
The proximate composition and physico-chemical properties (moisture, crude lipid, crude protein, ash, and crude fiber,
peroxide value, saponification value, acidity, relative density and refractive index) of prickly pear seed and corresponding oil were
determined. The mineral contents (Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Na, P, Mn and Zn) of samples were analyzed by inductively coupled
plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Minerals determined were: calcium 471.2 mg/kg, potassium 532.7 mg/kg, magnesium
117.3 mg/kg, phosphorus 1,627.5 mg/kg and natrium 71.3 mg/kg. The fatty acid profiles of seed oil from the Opuntia ficus indica
were analyzed by gas chromatography. Linoleic acid was established as the major fatty acid (61.01%), followed by oleic
(25.52%) and palmitic (12.23%) acids. Both myristic, stearic and arachidonic acids were detected in O. ficus indica seed oil in
low amounts. As a result, O. ficus indica seeds are an important source of natural fiber and, given its high linoleic acid content, its
oil can be used as a nutraceutic agent.
For personal use only.

Keywords: Prickly pear, Opuntia ficus indica L., seed, oil, composition, minerals, fatty acids

Introduction
Prickly pear (Opuntia ficus indica L.) is a tropical or
subtropical plant originally grown in South America
and cultivated in dry regions as an important nutrient
and food source. Recently, there were the constantly
increasing demand for nutraceuticals, natural ingre-
dients and health-promoting foods (Piga et al. 1996,
Lamghari et al. 1998, Trombetta et al. 2006,
Mannoubi et al. 2009). It has a global distribution
and is an important nutrient and food source
(Ramadan and Mörsel 2003a, Nassar 2008). Cactus
pear grows wild in arid and semi-arid regions, where
the production of more succulent food plants is
severely limited; it is a delicacy in Mexico, the United
States, Mediterranean countries and South Africa
(Gurbachan and Felker 1998, Ramadan and Mörsel
2003b). The seed oil properties of cactus pear fruits
were investigated during the maturation period
(Coşkuner and Tekin 2003). Also, the seeds and
pulp were compared in terms of oil composition
(Ramadan and Mörsel 2003a). In addition, all the
authors have agreed that cactus pear seed oil was rich
in polyunsaturated fatty acids (Coşkuner and Tekin
2003, Ramadan and Mörsel 2003a, Mannoubi et al.
2009).
The aim of the present study was to determine fatty
acid composition, proximate values, physicochemical
properties and mineral contents to obtain an
informative profile that will serve as a basis for further
chemical investigations and nutritional evaluation of
the cactus peer seed and corresponding oil.
Materials and methods
Materials
Prickly pear fruits were collected from the Mersin
(Büyükeceli-Gülnar) province of Turkey, and were
separately crushed by hand, and their pulps were
removed from seeds. The seeds were washed with
distilled water three times. Then, the seeds were dried
in atmospheric conditions. The dried materials were

Correspondence: Dr M. M. Özcan, Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural, Selcuk University, 42031 Konya, Turkey.
Tel: 90 332 2232933. Fax: 90 332 2410108. E-mail: mozcan@selcuk.edu.tr

ISSN 0963-7486 print/ISSN 1465-3478 online q 2011 Informa UK, Ltd.

DOI: 10.3109/09637486.2011.552569
 534 M. M. Özcan & F. Y. Al Juhaimi
finely ground in a mortar and kept in sealed bottles
until analysis.
Methods
The physical and chemical properties (crude oil, crude
protein, crude ash, crude fiber, relative density,
refractive index, peroxide value, acidity and saponifi-
cation number) of prickly pear fruits seed and
corresponding oils were analyzed according to
AOAC (1990) methods. For moisture, air-dried and
ground prickly pear fruits seeds were waited in
incubator calibrated to 1058C for 24 h, and about
10 g samples from each dried walnut was weighted.
Ash was determined in a muffle furnace at 9008C for
8 h (AOAC 1990). The nitrogen content estimated by
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the Kjeldahl method and was converted to protein
content using the conversion factor 6.25. We used 100
units prickly pear fruit seeds for the weight of 100
seeds, and the average seed weight was found. The oil
was extracted with diethyl ether (508C) in a Soxhlet
apparatus. The extract was evaporated in vacuum.
The lipid extract was collected in a flask. The extracted
lipid was weighed to determine the oil content and
stored under nitrogen at 48C for further analyses. For
the peroxide value, a known weight of prickly pear
For personal use only.
fruit seed oil was dissolved in a mixture of acetic
acid/chloroform (3:2 v/v), and a saturated solution of
KI (1 ml) was then added. The liberated iodine was
titrated with sodium thiosulfate solution (0.05 M) in
the presence of starch as indicator.
Determination of fatty acids
Fatty acid compositions for cactus seed oil were
determined using a modified fatty acid methyl ester
method as described by Hışıl (1998). The oil was
extracted three times for 2 g air-dried seed sample by
homogenization with petroleum ether. The oil sample
(50 – 100 mg) was converted to its fatty acid methyl
esters. The methyl esters of the fatty acids (1 ml)
were analyzed in a gas chromatogram (Shimadzu
GC-2010, Koyoto, Japan) equipped with a flame
ionizing detector, and a fused silica capillary column
(60 m £ 0.25 mm i.d.; film thickness 0.20 mm). It was
operated under the following conditions: oven
temperature program, 908C for 7 min, raised to
2408C at a rate 58C/min and then kept at 2408C for
15 min; injector and detector temperatures, 2608C
and 2608C, respectively; carrier gas, nitrogen at a flow
rate of 1.51 ml/min; split ratio, 1/50 ml/min.
A standard fatty acid methyl ester mixture (Sigma
Chemical Co., Munich, Germany) was used to
identify sample peaks. Commercial mixtures of fatty
acid methyl esters were used as reference data for the
relative retention times (AOAC 1990). Quantitative
analyses of the fatty acids were performed using the
heptadecanoic acid methyl ester as internal standard.
The results are mean values of three replicates.
Determination of mineral contents
About 0.5 g finely ground prickly pear seed samples
was put into a burning cup with 15 ml pure NHO3.
The sample was incinerated in a MARS 5 microwave
oven at 2008C. Distilled deionized water and ultra-
high-purity commercial acids were used to prepare all
reagents, standards, and prickly pear seed samples.
After digestion treatment, samples were filtrated
through Whatman No. 42. The filtrates were collected
in 50-ml Erlenmayer flasks and analyzed by induc-
tively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry
(ICP-AES). The mineral contents of the sample were
quantified against standard solutions of known
concentrations, which were analyzed concurrently
(Skujins 1998).
Working conditions for ICP-AES
The instrument for ICP-AES was from Varian-Vista,
Australia: RF power, 0.7 –1.5 kW (1.2 – 1.3 kW for
axial); plasma gas flow rate (argon), 10.5 – 15 l/min
(radial) and 15 l/min (axial); auxillary gas flow rate
(argon), 1.5 l/min; viewing height, 5 –12 mm; copy and
reading time, 1 –5 s (maximum 60 s); copy time, 3 s
(maximum 100 s).
Statistical analyses
Results of the research were analyzed for statistical
significance by analysis of variance (Püskülcü and İkiz
1989). This research was performed by three
investigators with a replicate.
Results and discussion
Table I presents the proximate composition of Opuntia
seeds. In the present study, the proximate composition
should be moisture 6.1%, crude lipid 5.0%, crude
protein 4.78%, ash 1.27% and crude fiber 12.47%
(Table I). Opuntia seeds also contained significant
amounts of important minerals. Minerals determined
were calcium 471.2 mg/kg, potassium 532.7 mg/kg,
magnesium 117.3 mg/kg, phosphorus 1,627.5 mg/kg
and natrium 71.3 mg/kg (Table II). The moisture
content is close to that reported by Mannoubi et al.
(2009). Lamghari et al. (1998) found that the
potassium content is highly significant, while calcium,
Table I. Proximate composition of prickly pear seeds.
Property Value
Moisture (%) 6.1 ^ 0.7
Crude lipid (%) 5.0 ^ 0.9
Crude protein (%) 4.78 ^ 0.6
Ash (%) 1.27 ^ 0.03
Crude fiber (%) 12.47 ^ 2.3
Weight of 100 seeds (g) 1.41 ^ 0.02
Data presented as mean ^ standard deviation.
 Nutritive value and chemical composition of prickly pear seeds
Table II. Mineral content of prickly pear seed.
Mineral Value (mg/kg)
Calcium 471.2 ^ 12.3
Potassium 532.7 ^ 11.7
Magnesium 117.3 ^ 1.1
Phosphorus 1627.5 ^ 27.3
Zinc 3.2 ^ 0.3
Iron 11.7 ^ 1.7
Manganese 1.9 ^ 0.3
Natrium 71.3 ^ 2.3
Copper 2.1 ^ 0.7
Data presented as mean ^ standard deviation.
magnesium and phosphorus. Garcia Pantaleon et al.
(2009) reported that the proximate composition of
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Opuntia boldinghii distributed in Venezuelan semi-
arid and coastal regions showed: 7.66% moisture,
2.89 g/100 g protein, 2.53 g/100 g ash, 16.26 g/100 g
crude fiber, 24.93 mg/100 g phosphorus, 2.8 mg/100 g
potassium and 1.34 mg/100 g iron. Mannoubi
et al. (2009) established 92.94 mg/100 g calcium,
79.37 mg/100 g magnesium, 11.58 mg/100 g natrium,
121.64 mg/100 g potassium and 123.84 mg/100 g
phosphorus in Opuntia seeds. The oil content was
low than the crude oil yield in the work of Coşkuner
For personal use only.
and Tekin (2003) (6.91%). Nassar (2008) reported
that prickly pear seed flour contained 13.62% crude
protein, 10.43% crude oil and 9.23% crude fiber.
Seeds contain 4.78% crude protein and 1.27% ash,
higher than values found by Sawaya et al. (1983) and
Mannoubi et al. (2009). Results observed differences
compared with literature values. These differences
may be due to growth conditions, varieties, genetic
factors, harvesting times, soil properties, or geographi-
cal variations of prickly pear plant.
The peroxide value of Opuntia seed oil was
established as 1.63 meq O2/kg (Table III). The
saponification value, determined as 181.3, is lower
than that of sunflower and corn oil (O’Brien 2004)
and, is partly high than that of Opuntia seed oil
(Mannoubi et al. 2009). The saponification value is
higher than cactus seed oil (169.0) (Ennouri et al.
(2005). The density of the seed oil at 208C was
established as 0.907 (Table III). This value was found
partly high compared with the results of Ennouri et al.
(2005) and Mannoubi et al. (2009). The study of the
density of the Opuntia seed oil as a function of
Table III. Physico-chemical properties of prickly pear seed oil.
Property Value
Peroxide value (meq O2/kg) 1.63 ^ 0.5
Acidity (%) 1.41 ^ 0.7
Saponification value 181.3 ^ 2.6
Relative density (20o) 0.907 ^ 0.013
Refractive index (20o) 1.4831 ^ 0.0001
Data presented as mean ^ standard deviation.
535
Table IV. Fatty acid compositions of prickly pear seed oil (%).
Fatty acid Value
Myristic acid 0.13 ^ 0.02
Palmitic acid 12.23 ^ 1.7
Oleic acid 25.52 ^ 1.1
Linoleic acid 61.01 ^ 1.3
Stearic acid 0.15 ^ 0.03
Arachidonic acid 0.95 ^ 0.07
Data presented as mean ^ standard deviation.
temperature revealed a linear relationship in accord-
ance with results reported for other oils (Ennouri et al.
2005).
The fatty acid profiles of seed oil from the O. ficus
indica were analyzed by gas chromatography, as
presented in Table IV. Linoleic acid was established
as the major fatty acid (61.01%), followed by oleic
(25.52%) and palmitic (12.23%) acids. Both myristic,
stearic and arachidonic acids were detected in O. ficus
indica seed oil in low amounts. In addition, cactus seed
oil was found to be highly unsaturated. Prickly pear
seed oil contained 67.20% linoleic, 18.0% oleic,
10.40% palmitic and 3.0% stearic acids (Garcia
Pantaleon et al. 2009). Ennouri et al. (2005)
determined a palmitic acid content lower than our
results (12.23%) and a content of linoleic acid very
much higher (61.01%). These results are partly similar
to those of results of Ramadan and Mörsel (2003b),
Coşkuner and Tekin (2003), Sawaya and Khan (1982)
and Mannoubi et al. (2009). The observed differences
in the concentration of oleic, palmitic and linoleic
acids could be due to the degree of maturity of the
fruit. According to the literature, there is an increase in
saturated fatty acid content towards the end of fruit
maturation (Coskuner and Tekin 2003). The fatty acid
composition of prickly pear oil was close to those of
sunflower and grape seed oils. These characteristics
illustrated the interest of prickly pear as a natural
source of edible oil containing essential fatty acids.
Further studies are needed to evaluate other
biological activities and pharmaceutical properties
and to identify and characterize the active com-
ponents that are responsible for antioxidant activity in
this oil.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank BAP Staff.
Declarations of interest: The present study was
supported by Selcuk University Scientific Research
Project (S.Ü.-BAP, Konya-Turkey).
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