POSITIONING CACTUS PEAR AS A WORLD CLASS PRODUCT: RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS - C. Mondragón-Jacobo 

Cactus pear has evolved into a formal fruit crop during the last three decades and it is slowly finding its way into the European and American markets as an interesting tropical and exotic product. The possibilities of an effective positioning are hindered by several features specific to the crop, such as seed content, the presence of residual glochids, as well as the marked seasonality in terms of production. The first impression of a new consumer is that of rejection due to the high number, size and hardness of the seeds and this is certainly the most important barrier when it comes to widening the consumer base. On the other hand, the actual variability available in the market is narrow, if compared to the wide germplasm base and the possibilities of generating new cultivars trough traditional breeding and biotechnology. All these aspects are discussed in this presentation, with emphasis on the analysis of seed generation, seed content and its relationship with cactus pear quality in Mexican germplasm. In addition, discussion on the advances of breeding for low seed content and a review of the induction of fruit seedlessness, as well as the progress on the study and utilization of genetic resources of cactus pear in order to obtain new genotypes, are also presented.