Short Communication

Chemical composition of Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) fruit

Nebbache Salim¹*, Chibani Abdelwaheb², Chadli Rabah¹ and Bouznad Ahcene¹

¹Laboratory of Microbiology and Plant Biology Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biology, Mostaganem University BP 227. Mostaganem 27000 Algeria.

²University of King Khalid, Faculty of Sciences. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: salimnebbache@yahoo.fr.

Accepted 16 December, 2008

Chemical composition of pulp, skin and seeds of fruit of Opuntia ficus-indica was investigated. Results showed high amount of water in the pulp (84.14%) and skin (90.33%). Glucose and fructose (29 and 24%, respectively) in the pulp were greater than in the skin (14 and 2.29%, respectively), whereas saccharose was very low in the pulp (019%) than in the skin (2.25%). The seed does not contain any trace of sugars. Potassium was very high in the three fractions of the fruit compared to other minerals. Prickly pear fruit is a remarkable fruit and its consumption is encouraged.

Key words: Chemical composition, Opuntia ficus-indica, cactus pear, fruit.