Golden Barrel Cactus: Unveiling Its Potential as a Functional Food and Nutraceutical Source

A comprehensive analysis of phytochemicals, digestive stability, and bioaccessibility was conducted on a golden barrel cactus extract from 3- and 6-year-old plants. Both ages contained lutein and four chlorophyll derivatives (chlorophyll a, b, pheophytin a, and b), but younger cacti revealed a significantly higher abundance. Total phenolics reached 3545.35 mg gallic acid equivalent/100 g dry weight in the 3-year-old extracts compared to 2557.96 mg/100 g in the older ones. Antioxidant activity, assessed by DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays, was consistently higher in the younger group. While digestion impacted all compounds, lutein exhibited relative stability at 69.03% and 58.33% retention for 3- and 6-year-old extracts, respectively. Chlorophylls displayed lower stability (37.64% and 33.34% remaining for younger and older cacti) despite showing higher bioaccessibility (73.385% and 64.65%). Phenolics also demonstrated promising bioaccessibility (76.39% and 69.88%) despite moderate digestive degradation (60.52% and 56.89% retained). Conclusively, all investigated attributes—phytochemical content, digestive stability, and bioaccessibility—favored the younger golden barrel cactus extracts. This highlights the crucial role of plant age in maximizing the potential health benefits of these extracts.