Book with abstracts from the COST Action 0905 meeting in ... - UMB

IN VITRO MINERAL AVAILABILITY IN PEEL AND PULP OF
PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS FRUITS (Opuntia ficus indica)
Rubén López-Nicolás, Carlos A. González-Bermúdez, Carmen Frontela-Saseta, Victoria
Gómez-Gómez, Patricia Peso-Echarri, Carmen Martínez-Graciá, Gaspar Ros-Berruezo.
Department of Food Science and Nutrition. Faculty of Veterinary Sciences. Campus de
Espinardo. 30100 Murcia, Spain.
rubenln@um.es
Keywords: Opuntia sp., minerals, availability, fiber
Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia sp.) is an important fruit crop in countries with hot
environment like the south of Spain. Several studies have shown that this fruit is a good
source of vitamins, minerals and fiber, based on the content of these nutrients. However,
there is a little scientific information about the availability of these nutrients, and no
attention has been paid to the peel, that could be used as by-product source of food
ingredients in the functional food industry. Therefore, the aim of this study was to
determine the fiber content and the in vitro intestinal absorption (by solubility and dialysis
methods) of different minerals contained in the pulp of prickly pear fruits as well as in the
peel. Results showed these fruits are a good source of calcium (1323mg/100g), potassium
(811mg/100g), magnesium (125mg/100g) and sodium (50mg/100g), being higher the
contents in peel than in the edible portion. Despite the high calcium solubility observed in
the whole fruit, only 0.3% was dialyzable in peel probably related with its higher fiber
content (20% vs. 10%); however iron, zinc, sodium and magnesium showed the highest
absorption (dialyzability) in the whole fruit. On a regular basis, the intake of 2-3 prickly
pear fruits could provide the RDI of calcium and magnesium, 1/3 of the RDI of potassium
and a minimum proportion of the recommended sodium intake.