Housewives' Knowledges and Practices of Utilizing Prickly Pear Peels and Its Use in Fortifying Some Bakery Products (Cake & Biscuits): An Applied Study

Abstract

This study aimed to identifying the housewives' knowledge and practices about prickly pear peels, their benefits, recycling and reusing in the fortification of some food products (cakes and biscuits). The main study participants comprised 100 housewives . The study utilized a questionnaire of the housewives' knowledge and practices about the prickly pears peels. Prickly pear peels were added to cakes and biscuits at 5,10 and 15%. The results of the study revealed a decreased level of knowledge and practices of prickly pear peels among the study participants. There was a correlation between the level of knowledge and practices of participants regarding prickly pears and their peels as well as with some social and economic characteristics (age group -educational statusmonthly income). A statistically significant difference was found between the study participants according to their age group in favor of those who are over 45 years old, in both knowledge and practices measures. The results also yielded statistically significant differences in favor of participants with university degrees and high monthly income of more than 4000 pounds, as well as in favor of those who live in urban areas and who works in both aspects, i.e. knowledge and practices. In addition, the experimental study results revealed that the prickly pear peels contain moisture, protein, fats, ash, carbohydrates, calories and dietary fiber at rates with 7.50%, 4.45%, 3.54%, 8.20%, 76.31% and 35.88%, respectively. The results also showed that the prickly pear peel is rich in total phenols, carotenoids and antioxidant activity. The results revealed an improvement in the nutritional value of the products prepared from prickly pear peels. The study recommended the necessity of increasing the knowledge and practices of housewives about the use of prickly pear peels by all available means.

peels

“…The peels contain moisture 6.78 g/100g, protein (4.78 g/100g), fats (0.9 g/100g), ash (10.49 g/100g), carbohydrates (50.12 g/100g ) and Crude fiber( 26.93 g/100g) dry bases. Current results are agreement with (Kossori et al, (1998) and (Mahfouz and Abd-Elnoor., (2020). The chemical composition in O.ficus indica peels were observed Based on their dried weight by El-Said et al, (2011).…”

Use of green (Opuntia megacantha) and red (Opuntia ficus-indica L.) cactus pear peels for developing a supplement rich in antioxidants, fiber, and Lactobacillus rhamnosus

“…Moreover, approximately 40% of the whole cactus pear fruit is peel, which is underused, despite the fact it contains several health-promoting compounds, such as phenolic compounds, betalains, and fiber (Hernández-Carranza et al, 2019). To present, different products have been developed using cactus pear by-products to improve their health-promoting composition, e.g., baked goods (Mahfouz & Abd-Elnoor, 2020;Parafati et al, 2020), yogurt (Hernández-Carranza et al, 2019), snacks (Namir et al, 2017), and margarine (Chougui et al, 2015). Therefore, the use of cactus pear peels for formulating value-added food commodities is currently on the rise.…”