Elsevier

Bioresource Technology

Volume 97, Issue 12, August 2006, Pages 1382-1386
Bioresource Technology

Evaluation of some biological parameters of Opuntia ficus indica. 1. Influence of a seed oil supplemented diet on rats

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2005.07.010Get rights and content

Abstract

Cactus pear (Opuntia ficus indica) is native to Tunisia and the fruit is consumed exclusively as fresh fruit. The seed oil is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids but the nutritive value of the oil is unknown. The objective of our research was to determine the fatty acid content of cactus pear seed oil and to evaluate the effect of an oil supplemented diet on rats. The main fatty acids of prickly pear seed oil were C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2 with an exceptional level of linoleic acid, up to 700 g kg−1, and a total content of unsaturated fatty acids of 884.8 g kg−1. Feed intake and body weight of rats were measured every two days during the nine weeks of treatment. Digestibility, feed conversion efficiency and protein efficiency ratio were determined. No difference in digestibility was noted for the oil enriched diet. The results indicated a significant decrease in serum glucose concentration (22%) over the control group. However, an increase in the concentration of glycogen was noted in liver and muscle. Blood cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol decreased in the treated group. High density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol concentration remained unaltered during the treatment. These findings support the nutritional value of cactus pear as a natural source of edible oil containing essential fatty acids and reinforce the possibility of cactus pear as a new crop for Tunisia especially in semi-arid regions, where conventional crops are difficult to establish.

Introduction

Cactus pear “Opuntia sp.” grows throughout Tunisia and the fruits are consumed exclusively as fresh fruit. The literature contains much information concerning the juice and cladode of cactus pear, but little on the nutritional value of the seed oil (Espinosa et al., 1973, Hoffmann, 1980, Bustos, 1981, Sawaya et al., 1983, DiCesare and Nani, 1992, Hassan et al., 1995, Saenz et al., 1996, Hamdi, 1997, Saenz, 2000, Oliveira et al., 2001). The cactus pear seed oil composition and its chemical characteristics were investigated by Sawaya and Khan (1982), then by Salvo et al. (2002). Coskuner and Tekin (2003) studied the seed composition of cactus pear fruits during the maturation period, whereas Ramadan and Morsel (2003) compared the seed and pulp oil composition. All the authors have agreed that Opuntia ficus indica seed oil was rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamins and may potentially be included in animal and human diets. However, data on the nutritional value of cactus pear oil are at present unknown. The major objective of this work was to determine the fatty acid content of cactus pear seed oil and to evaluate the effect of an oil supplemented diet on rats.

Section snippets

Oil extraction

The oil of O. ficus indica was extracted from the seed powder with hexane in a Soxhlet extractor (Quichfit, England) for 9 h. The organic phase was then removed using a rotary evaporator under reduced pressure and the oil was flushed with a stream of nitrogen and stored at −20 °C in sealed tubes. Prickly pear seeds are left after extraction of the juice from the fruit. The seeds were washed with distilled water several times, air-dried at ambient temperature and then grounded with a crusher

Body weight and feed intake of rats

During the first 28 days of treatment, a linear increase in body weight of rats fed a high lipid diet was observed compared to the control (Fig. 1). A small variation between the two groups occurred after this period. The lack of a weight difference between control and high lipid fed rats might be explained by decreased feed intake of the high lipid diet in comparison with the control animals (Fig. 2).

Digestibility, feed conversion efficiency (FCE) and protein efficiency ratio (PER)

No difference in digestibility and in PER of the different diets were recorded, while a

Conclusions

The supplementation of animal diets with 25 g kg−1 of O. ficus indica seed oil had no significant effect on body weight gain and on digestibility, but caused a decrease in feed conversion efficiency, cholesterol, LDL(VLDL) and serum glucose levels. The findings of this trial highlight the beneficial effect of O. ficus indica seed oil on animal health. Further work that may provide information on the effect of supplementation diet with whole seed powder is underway.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Mr. Fourati Zoubeir responsible for Biochemistry laboratory (Sfax) for analysis of HDL and total cholesterol and to Mr. Hammami Mohamed (Medicine Faculty of Monastir) responsible for U.S.C.R. spectrometry for chromatographic analysis.

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