Abstract
Opuntia spp. (Cactaceae) were used as food resources, folk medicine for centuries for its valuable nutritional properties and health benefits in some diseases, specifically diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases. This study aimed to investigate the impact of environmental factors on the qualitative and quantitative nutritional composition of the plant. Physical and chemical soil analyses were performed using Particle Size Analysis, Inductively Coupled Argon Plasma, Flame Photometer and titration methods. The quantitative nutritional assessments for each cladode and fruit were performed using standard Association of Official Analytical Chemists methods. While determinations of amino acids, lipids, sugars have been studied using Amino Acid Analyzer, GC\MS and TLC; respectively. Seasonal variations in ash, crude fiber, carbohydrate, nitrogen, protein and lipid were observed to adapt the changes in climate. Cladodes and fruits contained 17 and 16 protein amino acids, respectively; the major was glutamic acid in both. The GC-MS chromatogram of the petroleum ether extract of the cladode showed the existence of 26 compounds dominated by Undecan and 34 compounds in fruit dominated by linoleic acid. Meanwhile, the TLC sugar profile revealed the presence of 8 free and 6 combined sugars in cladode, 9 free and 5 combined sugars in fruit.