Agro-industrial utilization of cactus pear

1 Agro-industrial utilizationof cactus pearRURAL INFRASTRUCTURE ANDAGRO-INDUSTRIES DIVISIONC over photo: A. Rodr guez-F lixFOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONSRome, 2013 Carmen S enzandHorst BergerArmida Rodr guez-F lixLjubica GallettiJoel Corrales Garc aElena Sep lvedaMar a Teresa VarneroV ctor Garc a de Cort zarRoberto Cuevas Garc aEnrique AriasCandelario Mondrag nInocencio HigueraCadmo RosellAgro-industrial utilizationof cactus pearThe designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

2 Concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of 978-92-5-107987-4 (PDF) FAO 2013 FAO encourages the use, reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product. Except where otherwise indicated, material may be copied, downloaded and printed for private study, research and teaching purposes, or for use in non-commercial products or services, provided that appropriate acknowledgement of FAO as the source and copyright holder is given and that FAO s endorsement of users views, products or services is not implied in any way.

3 All requests for translation and adaptation rights, and for resale and other commercial use rights should be made via or addressed to FAO information products are available on the FAO website ( ) and can be purchased through citation:FAO. 2013. Agro-industrial utilization of cactus pear. title: Utilizaci n agroindustrial del nopalTranslation from Spanish: William EdwardsonTechnical coordination: Roberto Cuevas Garc aFAO Rural Infrastructure and Agro-Industries Division, in collaboration with the International Technical Cooperation Network on cactus (FAO CACTUSNET)iiiContentsACkNOwLEDGEmENTS ixFOREwORD xPREFACE xiiAbbREvIATIONS AND ACRONymS xivCHAPTER 1 Opuntias as a natural resource 1 General background 1 Origin and distribution of Opuntia spp.

4 2 Opuntia spp. as a natural resource 3 Types and characteristics of Opuntia spp. 4 Distribution and consumption in several countries 4 General description of the current publication 5 CHAPTER 2 Chemical composition and characteristics of Opuntia spp. 7 Opuntia spp. description 7 General characteristics of the species 8 Different parts of the plant: chemical composition at various physiological states 8 Fruits and cladodes: nutritional value and functional properties 12 Technological characteristics and processing 14 Potential uses of Opuntia spp. 16 CHAPTER 3 Field operations and utilization of cactus cladodes 21 Production 21 Post-harvest handling 25 Storage and transport 26 CHAPTER 4 utilization of Opuntia spp.

5 Fruits in food products 31 Food preservation systems 31 Description of products based on fruits of Opuntia spp. 32 Fresh fruits 33 Juices, beverages and concentrates 35 Frozen products 38 Dehydrated products and confectionery 38 Jams and gels 40 Fermented products 40 Quality and safety 41marketing 42ivCHAPTER 5 Use of cladodes in food products 45 Description of product types 45minimally processed cladodes 46 Juices and beverages 48 Jams and confectionery 48 Pickled nopalitos and nopalitos in brine 49 Pickled tender cladodes (nopalitos) 50 Nopalitos in brine 50 Flours 52 Quality and safety 54marketing.

6 Current status and prospects for products 55 CHAPTER 6 Small-scale food production for human consumption 57 Description of products 57 Technical requirements 57 Pre-processing 62 Removal of spines 64 Sorting and washing 65 Processing cactus pear fruit 66 Cladode processing 75 Filling, packaging and storage 84 Quality and safety 85marketing 86 Economic aspects 87 CHAPTER 7 Industrial production of non-food products 89 Product description 89 Technical Requirements 90 Colorants from cochineal 90 Food supplements 94 Colorants from cactus pear fruit 94 Hydrocolloids (mucilage)

7 96 Cosmetic products 97 Other promising products 98 Packaging 99 Quality 99marketing 100 Economic Aspects 100 CHAPTER 8 Production of bioenergy and fertilizers from cactus cladodes 103 General considerations 103 Handling and storage 104 Use as fuelwood 104 Opuntia spp. residues for biogas production 104 Use of residues for vermiculture and fertilizers 105 Effect of biofertilizer on the root development of cladodes 105vEffect of biofertilizer on the production of Opuntia spp.

8 Biomass 106 Effect of biofertilizer on some physical properties of soil 109 Economic aspects 109 CHAPTER 9 Case studies on Agro-industrial utilization of opuntia species in several countries 111 Argentina 111 Chile 112 Survey of small-scale cactus pear producers 113 Eritrea 113 United States of America 115 Ethiopia 116 Italy 117morocco 117mexico 119 Peru 120 South Africa 120 Tunisia 121 Other countries 122 CHAPTER 10 Development of value chains and networks based on Opuntia spp.

9 Production 125 TCP/ERI/8923 and TCP/ERI/2802: technology transfer of cactus pear (Opuntia spp.) production and utilization 125 TCP/ETH/2901 and TCP/ETH/3002 cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) production and utilization in Tigray 126 Guidelines for the Agro-industrial utilization of Opuntia spp. 127 Potential for the development of Opuntia spp. cultivation 127 Parameters and scope of the approach 130 Example of a programme for the Agro-industrial development of Opuntia spp. 132bIbLIOGRAPHy 137viFIGURES 1 world distribution of Opuntia spp.

10 3 2 Examples of industrial processing based on cactus pear fruit and cladodes 58 3 Flow chart for the production of cactus pear fruit jam 67 4 Flow chart for the production of cactus pear fruit juice 68 5 Flow chart to obtain a cactus pear fruit sweetener 71 6 Flow chart to prepare dehydrated sheets from cactus pear fruit 72 7 Flow chart for frozen cactus pear fruit pulp production 74 8 Flow chart for jam production from Opuntia cladodes 76 9 Flow chart for the production of candied cladodes 78 10 Flow chart for traditional production of tender cladodes in brine 80 11 Flow chart for the production of brined cladodes 81 12 Flow chart for cactus pear cladode juice production 81 13 Flow chart for the production of cactus pear cladode flour 83 14 Factors affecting product quality from processing to distribution 86 15 Production of cochineal extract and carmine 93 16 Flow chart for making colorant from purple cactus pear fruits 95 17 Flow chart for the extraction of mucilage from cactus pear cladodes 96 18 Evolution in time of the percentage of sprouted plants using four soil conditioning treatments 106 19 Effect of soil conditioning treatments on the production of total and root dry weight (note the standard deviation is shown on each bar).