Palmeri Rosa, Parafati Lucia, Arena Elena, Grassenio Emanuela, Restuccia Cristina, Fallico Biagio
Di3A, Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente, University of Catania, via S. Sofia 100, 95123 Catania, Italy.
Foods. 2020 Feb 22;9(2):235. doi: 10.3390/foods9020235.
Consumer interest toward natural ingredients is creating a growing trend in the food industry and research for the development of natural products such as colorants, antimicrobials and antioxidants. Semi-processed frozen prickly pear ( (L.) Mill.) juices (PPJs), obtained from three cultivars with white, red and yellow pulp, with different harvest times ("Agostani" and "Bastardoni"), were characterized for betalains, total phenolics, flavonoids, carotenoids, antioxidant capacity (by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH)) and antimicrobial potential against foodborne pathogenic bacteria. Through chemical assays, PPJs showed high contents of total polyphenols, flavonoids and betalains and marked antioxidant capacity. PPJs from the first harvest ("Agostani") revealed the significantly highest amount of polyphenols in white cultivar and of betacyanin and betaxanthin in yellow and red cultivars; antioxidant capacity was significantly higher in "Agostani" PPJs than in "Bastardoni" ones. Regarding antimicrobial potential, all PPJs revealed good antibacterial activity, particularly against as evidenced by the widest inhibition haloes. These results encourage the suitability of the first flowering prickly pear fruits, with low market value as fresh fruit but with high nutritional features, to be processed as semi-finished product. In particular, its use as ingredient in foods with high risk of contamination may act as a natural preservative.
消费者对天然成分的兴趣正在食品行业引发一种日益增长的趋势，推动了对天然产品（如色素、抗菌剂和抗氧化剂）开发的研究。从三个果肉颜色分别为白色、红色和黄色的品种，在不同收获时间（“阿戈斯塔尼”和“巴斯塔多尼”）获得的半加工冷冻仙人掌果（仙人掌属）汁（PPJ），对其甜菜色素、总酚、黄酮类化合物、类胡萝卜素、抗氧化能力（通过2,2-二苯基-1-苦基肼水合物（DPPH）测定）以及对食源致病菌的抗菌潜力进行了表征。通过化学分析，PPJ显示出总多酚、黄酮类化合物和甜菜色素的高含量以及显著的抗氧化能力。首次收获（“阿戈斯塔尼”）的PPJ显示，白色品种中的多酚含量以及黄色和红色品种中的花青素和甜菜黄素含量显著最高；“阿戈斯塔尼”PPJ的抗氧化能力明显高于“巴斯塔多尼”PPJ。关于抗菌潜力，所有PPJ都显示出良好的抗菌活性，特别是对 ，如最宽的抑菌圈所示。这些结果表明，首次开花的仙人掌果作为新鲜水果市场价值低但营养特性高，适合加工成半成品。特别是，将其用作高污染风险食品的成分可能起到天然防腐剂的作用。
