Opuntia cladodes as functional ingredient in durum wheat bread: rheological, sensory, and chemical characterization

Cladodes are considered by-products of Opuntia ficus-indica cultivation. Their addition as source of
antioxidants to durum wheat breads could have effects on preventing cardiovascular diseases,
cancers, and inflammation. The inclusion of 0-5-10-15% cladodes, harvested in three different
locations, on quality and antioxidant properties of fortified durum wheat breads has been evaluated. The enrichment with 10% of cladodes resulted in an increase in the content of total phenolics
(14.8 vs 2.7 mg GAE/100 g of control bread), a decrease of IC50 (3.28 vs 49.7 mg/ml of control bread),
good rheological characteristics of loaves and largely positive evaluation by panel test. Fortification
with 15% of cladodes caused an increase in the resistance to the mixture with a reduction of dough
extensibility. In addition, the evaluation of different populations of Opuntia gave information about
the valorization of the crop and could be a strategy to increase bioactive compounds in durum
wheat breads