CHEMICAL COMPONENTS DURING FRUIT RIPENING OF Opuntia joconostle WEBER CUARESMERO FORM

Abstract

The fruits of Opuntia joconostle Weber, Cuaresmero form, take as long as 224 days from pollination to physiological maturity. They are consumed in several degrees of maduration, but there is no information about the relationship between chemical composition and the different maturation stages. Therefore, analysis of some chemical components in two sampling periods (November-January-March, and January-March-May) and three maturation stages (initial, intermediate and full ripening) in fruits from San Martín de las Pirámides were performed. Chemical analysis reported 12 soluble carbohydrates, four carboxylic acids in the pericarp, and four fatty acids in seeds. In pericarp, variations were: for water content, 74 to 90 %; sugars, 0.50 to 0.88 %; pH, 3.2 to 3.5; citric acid, 1.9 to 2.8 %; malic acid, 0.9 to 2.1 %; succinic acid, 0.8 to 1.7 %; ascorbic acid, 3.8 to 6.5 mg/100 g fresh weight. In seeds: protein, 6.6 to 8.4 %; oil, 12.4 to 16.5 %; palmitic acid, 9.5 to 11.1 %; estearic acid, 1.9 to 2.1 %; oleic acid, 13.2 to 15.2 %; linoleic acid, 71 to 75 %. There was a close association between phenological stages and chemical components, suggesting the possibility to use some of the latter as maturity indexes.