Evolution Of Bioactive Components Of Prickly Pear Juice (opuntia Ficus Indica) And Cocktails With Orange Juice

The Prickly Pear cactus (Opuntia ficus indica) adapted to the conditions of arid areas where it offers to man and animals its nourishing and therapeutics properties The importance of this crop is related to its diversity of use and ecological role The juice obtained from the fruit pulp is characterised by a high pH 5.8 making its conservation difficult and its preservation requires thermal treatment at over 115 °C which is harmful for the bioactive constituents and color compared to orange juice, processed at temperatures below100 °C. The objective of this study aims to valuing this wealth of bioactive molecules of prickly pear and increase its consumption in the form of cocktails with orange juice. A stabilisation treatment by heat, weakly affects polyphenols rate which decreases from 10.5% for cocktail of 30%. The loss is 12% in the prickly pear juice. However, the vitamin C content decreases from 25 to 29% following thermal treatment at 85 °C for 30 min for the orange juice and prickly pear juice. Thermal treatment of these juices showed that the antioxidant activity decreases . It is 16% in the presence of 30% of prickly pear juice. During storage the loss of vitamin C is 25% in the presence of 30% pear juice; the loss in polyphenol is low .Microbiological quality control showed the effectiveness of pasteurisation at 85 °C. Valorisation in the form of natural cocktail juice is particularly interesting due to the contribution of bioactives compounds . It showed acceptable sensory quality.