Production of Opuntia ficus-indica fortified breads: A comparative analysis of wheat and gluten-free varieties and the impact on phytochemicals and antioxidant capacity

Bread is one of the prime foods consumed globally, and the demand for nutritious and gluten-free variants is progressively escalating. In recent years, alternative flours have gained popularity due to their recognized health advantages and potential in controlling food wastage. Prickly pear peels, a by-product of the fruit industry, offer a valuable prospect for augmenting the nutritional profile of bread and fostering sustainable practices. Consequently, the principal objective of this study was to explore the production of both wheat-based and gluten-free bread varieties fortified with prickly pear cv 'Rossa', 'Gialla', and 'Bianca' peels flour. Prickly pear peels were collected, dried, and processed into flour, thus serving as a partial substitute for conventional wheat and gluten-free flour breads that underwent a thorough evaluation of textural, nutritional, and biological properties before and after simulated gastric digestion. The observed results emphasized that incorporating prickly pear peel flour into bread formulations led to an increase in total phenolic content from 0.7 to 5 mg_GAE/g_bread, as well as enhanced antioxidant activity, from 0.5 to 5 mg_GAE/kg_bread. Furthermore, this incorporation resulted in heightened ash and fiber content, with gluten-free bread also showing a notable more than two-fold increase in protein levels. Moreover, the impact of digestion demonstrated a 30–50 % diminishing effect on the biological attributes of each sample; nevertheless, the enriched bread variants exhibited substantial retentions of polyphenolic compounds and a pronounced antioxidant capacity, underscoring their prospective utility as innovative food products while concurrently contributing to sustainability objectives through waste reduction.