SUGAR COMPOSITION AND INVERTASE ACTIVITY IN PRICKLY PEAR FRUIT

Sucrose was the predominant sugar in peel samples and present in lesser amounts in pulp and juice samples of prickly pear fruit. The relative total content of glucose and fructose differed among species and within fruit tissues. Acid invertase activity was found in all fruits examined while neutral invertase activity was found in two of the three species. Red-skinned fruits had no neutral invertase activity and yellow-skinned fruits had relatively high neutral invertase activity. When both invertase activities were added, a pattern of distribution of invertase activity that corresponded with sucrose levels within fruits was observed. The overall total invertase activity levels in red-skinned fruits were about twofold that of the yellow-skinned fruits and fourfold that of purple-skinned fruits.