Características físico-químicas de frutos de variedades silvestres de Opuntia de dos regiones semiáridas de Jalisco, México Physicochemical characteristics of fruits from wild Opuntia species from two semiarid regions of Jalisco, Mexico

Abstract

Species of the genus Opuntia are of great importance in Mexico. In Jalisco, a state located in Western Mexico, there are 29 recognized species of Opuntia , but only four of them are grown for consumption as vegetables and fruit, three are used for ornamental purposes, and the rest (22 species) are not exploited. The objective of this research was to evaluate morphological and chemical characteristics of fruit from wild Opuntia species grown at two municipalities of Jalisco, Mexico (Lagos de Moreno and Ojuelos de Jalisco). The variability in size, total fresh weight, edible portion weight, shell thickness and postharvest characteristics (moisture, ashes, total acidity, °Brix and pH), and pigment concentration (betaxanthins and betacyanins) was analyzed in 15 species of eight species of the genus Opuntia from both regions. Ten to fifteen fruits of each species were analyzed; parameters of descriptive statistics were obtained from the results; and were subjected to analysis of variance and to the Tukey test (α = 0.05). A greater diversity of wild species was collected at the municipality of Lagos de Moreno. Only three species: “memela” ( O. cantabrigiensis ), “cardona” ( O. streptacantha ) and “cascarona” ( O. hyptiacantha ) were present in both regions. O. ficus-indica species presented the highest values of fruit size, total weight and pulp weight. Moisture content in all samples tested was in the range from 80 to 90%, the ash content values ranged between 0.3 and 1.0%. The fruits showed low acidity (pH > 4.5) and high content of soluble sugars (11-14 °Brix). The species collected in Lagos de Moreno presented the highest contents of betalains, highlighting Opuntia icterica “larguita” with the highest content of total betalains (32.44 mg/100g). Results show the high variability in morphological and chemical characters of Opuntia species fruits from two semiarid regions in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. This information is important in order of making proposals for the use and conservation of wild species and highlight its value as genetic resources in regions of Jalisco.