Biological activities of water‐soluble polysaccharides fromOpuntia humifusastem in high‐fat‐diet‐fed mice

Abstract

Water‐soluble polysaccharide (WSP) of Opuntia humifusa stems was extracted and its biological activities in mice fed with a high‐fat diet (HFD) were investigated. The mice were treated with oral doses of WSP for 4 weeks. Body weight, fat mass, serum lipid, and hormone profiles, gastrointestinal tract changes were evaluated. WSP treatment resulted in a decrease in fat mass and improvement of lipid and hormone profiles associated with HFD consumption. In addition, WSP improved the gastrointestinal health of the mice by increasing ghrelin‐releasing cells and serotonin‐positive cells and boosted immune functions by increasing the expression of CD4+ cells and nitric oxide synthase. Also, WSP treatment reduced gastrointestinal transit time and increased fecal moisture content. These findings suggest that a sufficient intake of WSP from O. humifusa can be beneficial in preventing disorders that are associated with the consumption of HFD including the preservation of gastrointestinal health. Practical applications Opuntia humifusa is a traditional edible plant widely eaten in Asia for its high concentrations of vitamin C, polyphenols, and flavonoids. The research investigated the biological activity of WSP extracted from O. humifusa stems. The data obtained from this study sheds light on the use of plant‐based polysaccharides in nutraceutical industries as potential functional food materials for the prevention of HFD‐related disorders and improvement of gastrointestinal health. The results of this research could serve as a base for further research on this polysaccharide as a source of functional polysaccharides and promotes its usage on a large scale in functional food materials.

Beneficial Effects of Opuntia humifusa (Korean Cheonnyuncho) on Human Health Based on Antioxidant Properties: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The main characteristics of the 15 studies are summarized in Table 1. Among the fifteen articles, four studies reported a positive association between the optical application of OH and reductions in skin aging [5,[19][20][21], nine studies found anti-cancer benefits [6,7,15,[21][22][23][24][25][26], and three studies demonstrated the beneficial effects of OH in reducing symptoms of diabetes [9,11,13,14,27]. OH species are cultivated primarily in Korea; thus, all of these studies were performed only in Korea, covering the period from 2005 to 2020.…”

“…OH species are cultivated primarily in Korea; thus, all of these studies were performed only in Korea, covering the period from 2005 to 2020. The OH materials used in these studies were processed from different parts of the OH, including the fruit (n = 6) [3,4,6,9,10,13], stem (n = 9) [5,7,9,11,13,21,22,24,25], and peel (n = 1) [21]. Subsequently, the raw OHs were extracted into a solution using various solvents (including methanol, ethanol, hexane, acetone, ethyl acetate, and water) for in vitro studies on human and animal cell lines.…”

“…Cho et al 2005 [24] Ha et al 2016 [19] Halm et al 2010 [15] Halm et al 2011 [11] Halm et al 2015 [7] Halm et al 2016 [23] Han et al 2018 [20] Hwang et al 2011 [21] Jung et al 2012 [25] Kang et al 2013 [13] Kim et al 2013 [22] Lee et al 2013 [6] Moon et al 2020 [5] Yang et al 2018 [9] Yoon et al 2009 [26] Risk of bias rating Low risk of bias…”

“…OH, known as Korean Cheonnyuncho, is cultured primarily in Korea, even in cold environments below −20 • C [2,9]. OH is a low prostrate succulent, forming clumps usually only one or two stem segments tall [10].…”