ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Food Sci. Technol.
Sec. Food Characterization
Volume 5 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frfst.2025.1685877
Effect of drying methods and pre-treatments on the physical and antioxidant properties of prickly pear (Opuntia stricta and Opuntia ficus indica)
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Food Science and Technology, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya
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The invasive proliferation of prickly pear (Opuntia stricta [OS] and Opuntia ficus-indica [OFI]) in arid regions offers an opportunity to source wide array of valuable bioactive and nutraceutical compounds. This study aimed to identify optimal drying and pretreatment strategies to preserve the quality of these fruits for commercial applications. Physical properties analyzed included moisture content, water activity, rehydration characteristics, and color. Antioxidant retention was determined using UV-Vis spectrophotometry to quantify betalains, total phenols, total flavonoids, total carotenoids, β-carotene, and antioxidant activity (DPPH assay). Results showed that freeze drying (FD) best preserved the structural integrity, yielding the highest rehydration ratios (OS: 3.68–3.70; OFI: 4.27–4.52) and minimal color change (ΔE = 7.48–23.18), while oven drying (OD) and solar drying (SD) achieved lower final moisture content (6.99–9.65%) and water activity (0.346–0.484). For antioxidant retention, FD was superior, but the efficacy of citric acid pretreatment was compound-specific: it was crucial for preserving flavonoids and β-carotene, marginally beneficial for phenols, and ineffective for betalains. Blanching consistently reduced antioxidant content. OFI exhibited higher carotenoid levels, whereas OS retained more phenols. These findings demonstrate that the optimal processing strategy is goal-dependent. While FD is ideal for premium quality, oven-drying combined with citric acid pretreatment represents the most practical approach for industrial-scale processing, effectively balancing bioactive retention with shelf-stability and cost-effectiveness. This approach facilitates the transformation of an ecological threat into a sustainable source of functional food ingredients.
Keywords: Freeze-drying, bioactive compounds, rehydration ratio, Color stability, foodpreservation
Received: 14 Aug 2025; Accepted: 21 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Nyamgero, Kinyanjui and Owino. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Willis O Owino, willis@agr.jkuat.ac.ke
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