Opuntia spp. are crops well adapted to adverse environments and have great economic potential. Their constituents, including fruits, cladodes, and flowers, have a high nutritional value and are rich in value-added compounds. Cladodes have an appreciable content in dietary fiber, as well as bioactive compounds such as kaempferol, quercetin, and isorhamnetin. Fruits are a major source of bioactive compounds such as phenolic acids and vitamin C. The seeds are mainly composed of unsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E. The flowers are also rich in phenolic compounds. Therefore, in addition to their traditional uses, the different plant fractions can be processed to meet multiple applications in the food industry. Several bakery products have been developed with the incorporation of cladode flour. Pectin and mucilage obtained from cladodes can act as edible films and coatings. Fruits, fruit extracts, and fruit by-products have been mixed into food products, increasing their antioxidant capacity and extending their shelf life. Betalains, obtained from fruits, can be used as food colorants and demonstrate promising applications as a sensor in food packaging. This work reviews the most valuable components of the different fractions of this plant and emphasizes its most recent food applications, demonstrating its outstanding value.
Agricultural activities depend heavily on irrigation in arid and semi-arid climates, which are one of the most water-limited areas, reducing agricultural productivity. As the climate changes, the lack of precipitation is expected to aggravate in these areas, requiring careful management of water use. Subsurface water retention technology (SWRT) may hold promise as a management tool to save water use and improve crop drought resistance. In this context, the effect of SWRT on tomato yield, growth, physiology, and biochemical characteristics, as well as soil characteristics under two regimes of water (100% field capacity (FC) and 50% FC) in open field conditions, was investigated. The results here suggest that drought affected tomato performance. Nevertheless, SWRT application significantly increased tomato yield (38%), chlorophyll fluorescence (3%), gas exchange (39%), and chlorophyll total content (49%), as well as soil fertility characteristics, with significant increases in organic matter (23%) and assimilable phosphorus contents (25%) compared with the control. Furthermore, it resulted in a significant reduction in enzymatic antioxidant activities and polyphenol and significant improvement in fruit quality by increasing protein content. This technique should be used as a valuable strategy to save irrigation water and mitigate the negative effects of water deficiency on tomato plants in arid and semi-arid regions.
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