Chemical Analysis of Nutritional Content of Prickly Pads ( Opuntia ficus indica ) at Varied Ages in an Organic Harvest

Margarita I. Hernández-Urbiola, Esther Pérez-Torrero and Mario E. Rodríguez-García
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Margarita I. Hernández-Urbiola: Posgrado en Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, P.O. Box 1–1010, Querétaro, Qro, 76230, México
Esther Pérez-Torrero: Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Valle de México, Campus Querétaro, Querétaro, Qro, 76230, México
Mario E. Rodríguez-García: Departamento de Nanotecnología, Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, P.O. Box 1–1010, Querétaro, Qro, 76230, México

IJERPH, 2011, vol. 8, issue 5, 1-9

Abstract: Opuntia ficus indica , also known as prickly pads, are an important part of the human diet and are also used as forage for livestock. This is an interesting vegetable due the environmental conditions in which it grows and its resistance to climatic extremes; however, little is known about its nutritional properties, especially in the later stages of maturity. The objective of this study was to determine the composition of organic prickly pads ( Opuntia ficus indica ) at differing stages of growth maturity. Chemical proximate analysis and mineral constituent analysis at different maturation stages were carried out in this investigation. As a result, older prickly pads were found to be an important source of nutritional components such as calcium.

Keywords: different maturity stages; powder; nutritional content; Opuntia; prickly pads (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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