Geographical and botanical differentiation of Mediterranean prickly pear using specific chemical markers

The aim of the present study was to differentiate Mediterranean prickly pear according to geographical origin and Cypriot prickly pear according to botanical origin based on individual vitamins, antioxidants and mineral content combined with chemometrics. Seventy-four prickly pear samples were collected during the harvest periods 2019 and 2020 from Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Spain. Likewise, 43 prickly pear samples were collected from three different Cypriot cultivars (yellow, red and spineless) during the same harvest periods. UPLC-MS/MS was used to determine individual vitamins and antioxidants; ICP-MS was used to determine minerals and UV spectrophotometry was used to determine total antioxidants and antioxidant activities. Classification rate based on the cross validation method was 86.5% according to geographical origin using 24 chemical markers and 90.7% according to botanical origin using 14 chemical markers. Satisfactory differentiation of geographical and botanical origin of prickly pear was achieved using analytical data including specific chemical markers in combination with chemometrics. •Botanical and geographical differentiation of prickly pear from four Mediterranean countries was attempted.•Differentiation was based on individual vitamins, antioxidants and minerals.•24 chemical markers were determined for geographical differentiation and 14 for botanical differentiation.•A classification rate of 90.7% was achieved for botanical differentiation.•A classification rate of 86.5% was achieved for geographical differentiation.