Infrared Spectroscopy and Morphological Assessments on the Nutritional Value of Prickly Pear Fruit

The prickly pear fruit helps in combating viral based infections. It is used to treat diabetes and declared to possess hypoglycemic effects. There is also record of the usage of the fruit in the olden days as a remedy for diabetes, lipid disorders, inflammation, ulcers, and pharmacologic side effects. The chemical composition and nutritional values of skin, flesh and seed of prickly pear fruit were investigated and discussed on a dry weight situation. The infrared spectra as well as scanning electron microscopy(SEM) techniques were used to identify the functional groups of carbohydrates, amino acids, and protein. The infrared spectral data of all three(skin, flesh, and seeds) species were recorded and assigned to the presence of distinguish peaks that referred to the three different sugars(glucose, fructose and saccharose) and cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbons moieties. On the other hand, the SEM is a powerful tool to investigate the morphological features of the components. SEM assays were examined on the surfaces of skin, flesh and seed branches showing a small particle that tends to form clusters with different shapes compared to each other. The Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDX) is an analytical technique used for the elemental analysis or chemical characterization of a sample. The EDX spectral technique of the skin, flesh and seeds were confirmed the presence of different essential and useful elements such as carbon, oxygen, magnesium, calcium, potassium, sulfur, aluminum, silicon, chloride, and phosphorus.