Antioxidant Profiling of Yemeni Varieties of Opuntia ficus-indica Pulp: Method Optimization, Validation, and Regional Evaluation
This study investigates the phytochemical properties and antioxidant potential of Opuntia ficus-indica growing in Yemen across diverse topographical regions, including Dhamar, Ibb, Sana’a, and Taiz. Despite its prevalence, Yemeni varieties remain scientifically under-characterized within the local context. This research focused on optimizing extraction protocols and quantifying the antioxidant content using spectrophotometric methods. The Extraction optimization identified deionized water as the superior solvent for bioactive recovery. The vortex extraction technique at 2 min was selected for its high efficiency and rapid processing, yielding 909.40±23.12 AAE/kg FW. Method validation demonstrated excellent linearity (R2 ≥ 0.9967), high precision (%RSD < 3.665%), and recovery (%R 91.29–101.22%). Analysis of 25 real samples collected from various topographical regions in Yemen revealed that TAA ranged from 767.95 to 929.49 mg AAE/kg FW, TPC values ranged from 535.95 to 673.20 mg GAE/kg FW, while TFC varied between 28.75 and 87.50 mg QE/kg FW. These results establish a comprehensive phytochemical profile for Yemeni varieties of Opuntia ficus-indica, enhancing their economic and industrial value in the food and pharmaceutical sectors.
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