Despite their delicious taste, prickly pears pose a challenge for lovers of the fruit. Their sharp, difficult-to-remove spines make them cumbersome to prepare and eat once cut.
To address this, a collaborative effort has been underway for years, aiming to create a 'prickly pear 2.0' that is thorn-free, easy, and practical to consume.
This innovative project, led by a group of researchers from the University of Santiago, in partnership with the Agricultural Innovation Fund (FIA), and prickly pear producers from Til Til in the Metropolitan Region, seeks to revolutionize the fruit.
According to Reporte Agrícola, the core of their work involves replacing the traditional prickly pear skin with a new technological development.
The product is an edible film made from polymers that allows the fruit to be consumed directly and easily, without losing its organoleptic attributes (aroma, flavor, color), as well as its nutritional benefits, as it is rich in amino acids, fiber, magnesium, iron, vitamins, water, and beta-carotene.
The aim is to replace the thick skin of the prickly pear to add value to this fruit, increase demand, and strengthen prickly pear production and exports.
Laura Almendares, researcher and academic at the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Santiago, pointed out that “the objective is to develop a new technology that enables removing (peeling) the skin of the prickly pear (peeled), replacing it with an edible cover that is firmly attached to the fruit, which allows it to continue breathing, maintaining all the functions of a living and fresh organ.”
Almendares, who leads the project, added that “it also includes extending the shelf life of the treated fruits to more than double that of prickly pears not treated with this solution.”
The Usach academic stated that "laboratory trials have been carried out by manually peeling the fruit and then applying the polymer-based coating film (organic macromolecules that are also the basis of nylon, polyethylene, and Bakelite).
The researcher added that it is still under study for market release, but “we are testing the technology on avocados with and without skin, and on blueberries. Since we are making some variations and seeing the first results, the idea is then to move on to licensing.”