Asynchronous ripening behavior of cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) cultivars with respect to physicochemical and physiological attributes

•We examined the evolution of ripening events in two cactus pear cultivars.•Asynchronous sugar and betalain accumulation patterns were identified.•Fruit firmness was highly correlated to seed weight and seed-to-pulp ratio.•Ripening elicited extensive loss of cell wall neutral sugars but not pectins.•Chronology of ripening events profiled is critical for defining harvest maturity. Physicochemical and physiological ripening events in cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) fruit of cultivars ‘Ntopia’ and ‘Hercules’ were profiled against skin coloration from mature-green (S1) to over-mature (S5). Fructose and glucose accumulation were linear in ‘Ntopia’ but peaked near S3 in ‘Hercules’ synchronously to the appearance of sucrose. Betalains increased steadily in ‘Ntopia’ (103.2mg/l) but peaked before full skin coloration in ‘Hercules’ (49.7mg/l); whereas phenolic content remained invariable and ascorbate content peaked near S5 in both ‘Ntopia’ (108.6μg/g) and ‘Hercules’ (163.1μg/g). Cell wall material diminished with maturity though textural changes with ripening appeared not related to pectin solubilization but to weakening of glycan bonding and loss of neutral sugars. Fruit firmness rather was correlated to seed weight (r=0.89) and seed-to-pulp ratio (r=0.73). Cultivar differences highlighted in the chronology of ripening events are critical for defining optimum harvest maturity and postharvest handling protocols for premium quality cactus pear fruit.