title: Taurine is absent from amino components in fruits of Opuntia ficus-indica.
abstract: Juices of edible fruits from Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller, commonly named prickly pears or Indian figs, were analysed for amino acids using an automated amino acid analyser run in the high-resolution physiological mode. Emphasis was put on the detection of free taurine (Tau), but Tau could be detected neither in different cultivars of prickly pears from Italy, South Africa and the Near East nor in commercially available prickly pear juices from the market.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Food Science and Agriculture, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh, 11451 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Hatem Salama Mohamed
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Food Science and Agriculture, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh, 11451 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Abdulrahman Saleh
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Al-Khalifa
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Sciences, Research Center for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition (IFZ), Institute of Nutritional Science, Justus Liebig-University of Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, 35392 Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Brückner
keywords: Amino acid analysis; Automated ion-exchange chromatography; Opuntia ficus-indica (Cactaceae); Prickly pears; Taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid)