Pasta with prickly pear to fight obesity was developed by Italian scientists

With the growing demand for healthy foods, a special category of “functional food” has emerged - similar in appearance to traditional food, but with healing properties. In Italy, researchers decided to add a special ingredient to traditional wheat - fig or Indian prickly pear, thereby turning ordinary pasta into a super-product. Considering that the market for functional foods in Europe has grown significantly, the production of such foods can be interesting and profitable. Indian prickly pear (Opuntia ficus indica) is an important source of vitamins and minerals and may also help prevent certain diseases such as hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, obesity, arteriosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Globally, Mexico is the largest producer of prickly pears, followed by Italy and South Africa. In Italy, prickly pears are grown on an area of 7,400 hectares, mainly in Sicily. The average domestic production of prickly pears reaches 78 thousand tons of fresh fruits per year. Due to ...