Abstract: The objective of the present work was to characterize prickly pear juice prepared from prickly pear fruits of the wild cultivar in terms of shelf life (air and vacuum packaging), sensory stability (odour, taste, and appearance) physicochemical parameters (acidity, vitamin C, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, specific weight, total sugar content, and colour coordinates L*, a*, b*) and bio-functional properties [in vitro antioxidant activity (AA%) and total phenolic content (TPC)]. For this purpose fruits were collected during August 2017 from 3 different geographical zones in Peloponnese. The shelf life of prickly juice was extended by 5 days in vacuum compared to air packaging, whereas it was found to be a rich source of phytochemicals and a natural antioxidant agent (AA of 67.33 ± 5.89-75.63 ± 4.41% and TPC of 3234.5 ± 978.2-7592.1 ± 2441.0 mg GAE L-1), in relation to fruit geographical origin (P < 0.05). The exploitation of prickly pear juice is really a challenge.
Keywords: Antioxidant activity; Geographical origin; Polyphenols; Prickly pear juice; Shelf life.