Opuntia spp. seed oil

Abstract

The Opuntia, commonly known as cactus pear or prickly pear, belongs to the Cactaceae family and is widely distributed either as indigenous, alien, wild, or domesticated species in various countries across the world. Seeds are usually removed as waste products from the fruit pulp and can constitute important new oil source. The Opuntia seed oil, commonly called prickly pear seed oil, has been extracted using maceration-percolation, Soxhlet, cold pressing, supercritical carbon dioxide, and ultrasound extraction, for which yields of 1–20% have been reported. Opuntia ficus-indica is the most common Opuntia species for which the physicochemical characteristics, the composition of fatty acids, sterols, and tocopherols have been reported. The main fatty acids of prickly pear seed oil are palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic acids. Environmental conditions and maturation stages of prickly pear have effects on the properties of the oil. High levels of sterols are present, with β-sitosterol as the dominant sterol. The dominant tocopherol is γ-tocopherol. The oil exhibited a high in vitro antioxidant potential, and with its reported phenolic content, it has various health and cosmetics applications.