Comparative Analysis of the Chemical Composition and Physicochemical Properties of the Mucilage Extracted from Fresh and Dehydrated <i>Opuntia ficus indica</i> Cladodes

Abstract

The development of sustainable extraction methods to obtain natural products constitutes a challenge for the food industry. The aim of this work was to compare yield, separation efficiency, chemical composition, and physicochemical properties of the mucilage extracted from fresh cladodes (FNM) and mucilage extracted from dehydrated cladodes (DNM) of O. ficus indica. Suspensions of fresh and dehydrated cladodes (4% w/w) were prepared for mucilage extraction by using a mechanical separation process. Subsequently, the separated mucilage was precipitated with ethyl alcohol (1:2 v/v) then, yield and separation efficiency were determined. The mucilage was characterized by measuring Z potential, viscosity, color, and texture attributes. Additionally, chemical proximate analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were conducted. No significant differences (p O. ficus indica cladodes in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries.

Keywords

• mucilage
• <i>O. ficus indica</i>
• mechanical separation
• separation efficiency
• sustainable extraction
• physicochemical properties