Cactus seed oil is gaining considerable popularity in the cosmetic industry. To estimate cactus seed oil’ industrial as well as domestic ease of use, we investigated the oxidative stability of Moroccan cactus seed oil under accelerated aging conditions. In addition, we compared cactus seed oil stability to that of argan oil, a popular and well-established cosmetic oil, under the same conditions. Cactus seed oil is much more sensitive to oxidation than argan oil. Its shelf-life can be estimated to be no longer than 6 months at room temperature. Such instability means that the preparation process for cactus oil must be carried out with great care and cactus seed oil needs to be protected once extracted.

Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica L.) seed oil, which is extracted from prickly pear fruit seeds, might constitute an alimentary source of substances of nutraceutical value. Physicochemical properties, chemical composition, antioxidant activity, and oxidative stability of prickly pear seed oil prepared from unroasted seeds were evaluated and compared with those of oil that was prepared from seeds roasted for different times. Prolonged roasting time had no significant influence on the protein content of the seeds. However, an increase in total phenolic compounds was observed from 225.9 mg GAE/100 g oil to 362.7 mg GAE/100 g oil after 40 min of roasting at 110℃. Consequently, an increase in antioxidant power which will induce a better oxidation resistance was found by the 1.1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl method expressed as EC₅₀ value that was reduced from 0.6 to 0.1 mg/ml. No significant change was observed in triacylglyceride and fatty acid composition, whereas tocopherol (512.8 to 542.1 mg/kg after 40 min of roasting) and sterol (8,292 to 8,629 mg/kg after 40 min of roasting) levels increased. Oxidative stability increased remarkably from 3.1 to 7.6 hr after 40 min of roasting with the increase in roasting time. The current study revealed that prickly pear seeds and the resulting oil have excellent nutritional qualities that were significantly elevated after roasting. Practical applications Cactus seed oil is one of the most expensive vegetable oils and roasting of the seeds before pressing can help to improve not only the sensory quality of the oil but also the oxidative stability. Therefore, it is important to know more about the influence of roasting time on the quality of the oil. With this information, it is possible to optimize the roasting process regarding oil stability but also the release of bio-active compounds such as tocopherols or phenolic compounds. Overall, this will significantly improve the acceptance of this oil.

Volatile compounds from oils extracted from cactus seeds (Opuntia ficus-indica) of five regions of Morocco were analyzed by dynamic headspace-GC/MS. Aroma active compounds were characterized by olfactometry. A total of 18 compounds was detected with hexanal, 2-methyl propanal, acetaldehyde, acetic acid, acetoin and 2,3-butanedione as most abundant. Olfactometric analysis showed that those compounds are aroma active; therefore, cactus seed oil flavor can be attributed to those compounds. Moreover, the effect of roasting of cactus seeds on the composition of volatile compounds in the oil was investigated. Especially the concentration of compounds known as products from the Maillard reaction increased significantly with roasting time such as furfural, furan, 3-methyl furan, 2-butanone, thiophene, 2, 3- dithiabutane, methyl pyrazine, 2-methyl pyrimidine, 2-metoxy phenol, dimethyl trisulfide and 5-methyl furfural.

The aim of this study was to determine the chemical composition (fatty acids, tocopherols, and sterols) and evaluate the oxidative stability of Moroccan pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) seed oil. The oil content of pomegranate seed was 22.63 g/100g of dry weight. The fatty acid composition showed a dominance of conjugated linolenic acids (CLnAs) (86.96 g/100g). The most dominant fatty acid was punicic acid (75.1 g/100g), followed by catalpic acid (6.7 g/100g) and linoleic acid with amounts of 4.11 g/100g. The seed oil only contained a low level of saturated fatty acids with palmitic (2.64 g/100g) and stearic acids (1.73 g/100g) as main saturated fatty acids. The sterol marker, β-sitosterol, accounted for 404.59 mg/100g of the total sterol content in the seed oil. Total tocopherol content in seed oil was 332.44 mg/100g. γ-tocopherol (190.47 mg/100g oil) is the major constituent, followed by α-tocopherol (74.62 mg/100g oil) and δ-tocopherol (53.3 mg/100g oil). The induction time calculated by the Rancimat accelerated method was found to be of 3.6 h at 120 °C. In terms of oil, pomegranate seed oil may be considered as a valuable source for new multipurpose products with industrial, cosmetic and pharmaceutical uses.

Enhancement of the oxidative stability of cactus seeds oil by blending with moringa seeds oil was investigated during storage period for four weeks at 50 °C. Blends (25, 50 and 75%) of moringa seeds oil with cactus seeds oil were prepared. Fatty acids composition, induction period, peroxide value, specific extinction coefficients (K232 and K270) and tocopherols were studied. Blending moringa seeds oil with cactus seeds oil at 25:75% increases the induction period to 4.06 h while it was 3.16 h in 100% cactus seeds oil. Peroxide values decreased due to increase moringa seeds oil amount in blends. Also, adding moringa seeds oil to cactus seeds oil caused a decrease in K232 and K270 values during the storage period in comparison with 100% cactus seeds oil. α-tocopherol values decreased during storage for all oil blends, while the content of γ-tocopherol in all samples (except moringa seeds oil) increased during storage period reaching the highest level after the third week then it started to decrease. Therefore, the obtained results provided a potential approach to utilize moringa oil to increase the oxidative stability of edible oils.