Botanical differentiation of Italian prickly pear varieties: Unveiling unique profiles through physicochemical parameters, volatiles, antioxidants, and vitamins

Physicochemical parameters, volatile profiles, and bioactive compound content, combined with chemometric techniques, were used to differentiate Italian prickly pear varieties (White, Yellow, and Red). A total of seventy-four samples were collected from different regions of Italy over two harvesting periods (2011 and 2022). A combination of conventional physicochemical analyses, UPLC-MS/MS, and GC–MS was employed for the determination of physicochemical parameters, vitamins and antioxidants and the profiling of volatile compounds, respectively. The chemical profile of prickly pears included the analysis of 13 physicochemical parameters, the quantification of nine vitamins and seven antioxidants, and the identification and semi-quantification of fifty-seven volatile compounds. Statistical analysis (using MANOVA and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA)) revealed that titratable acidity, color parameters (L, a, b), 17 volatile compounds, and 6 bioactive compounds played a key role in varietal differentiation. The effectiveness of this analytical approach in differentiating Italian prickly pear varieties is confirmed by the classification success rates: 97.3% for physicochemical parameters, 81.1% for volatiles, and 78.4% for vitamins and antioxidants, as determined using the cross-validation method.