Oil cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica L.)
Seeds and pulp of cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica L.) were compared in terms of fatty acids, lipid classes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins and b-carotene. Total lipids (TL) in lyophilised seeds and pulp were 98.8 (dry weight) and 8.70 g/kg, respectively. High amounts of neutral lipids were found (87.0% of TL) in seed oil, while glycolipids and phospholipids occurred at high levels in pulp oil (52.9% of TL). In both oils, linoleic acid was the dominating fatty acid, followed by palmitic and oleic acids, respectively.
Opuntia ficus-indica A review
Opuntia ficus-indica, commonly referred to as prickly pear, belongs to the family Cactaceae.
It is used as both for food and medicine in different countries throughout the world. It contains
diverse bioactive compounds which make this plant to withstand extreme drought conditions
in relatively poor soil. The present review is aimed at the morphological characters of Opuntia
ficus-indica with its food and medicinal values.