McConn Michele M, Nakata Paul A
USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030-2600, USA.
J Agric Food Chem. 2004 Mar 10;52(5):1371-4. doi: 10.1021/jf035332c.
The pads (nopales) of the prickly pear cactus are considered to be a good source of minerals and other nutrients on the basis of compositional analysis. In this study, this analysis is taken a step further by assessing the availability of selected minerals in nopales using an in vitro digestion and dialysis method. The results obtained suggest that although nopales are enriched in a number of minerals, their tissue calcium is not freely available. Microscopic analysis, energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis, and oxalate measurements suggest that this reduction in available calcium is a result of its sequestration in the form of calcium oxalate crystals. The issue of mineral availability in plant foods is important when the dependence of many populations around the world on plant foods as their main source of minerals and other nutrients is considered.
根据成分分析，仙人掌的茎片（nopales）被认为是矿物质和其他营养物质的良好来源。在本研究中，通过使用体外消化和透析方法评估nopales中特定矿物质的可利用性，使这一分析更进一步。所得结果表明，尽管nopales富含多种矿物质，但其组织中的钙并非可自由利用。微观分析、能量色散X射线微分析和草酸盐测量表明，可利用钙的减少是其以草酸钙晶体形式螯合的结果。当考虑到世界上许多人口依赖植物性食物作为矿物质和其他营养物质的主要来源时，植物性食物中矿物质的可利用性问题就很重要了。
