Nopal Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) as a Source of Bioactive Compounds for Nutrition, Health and Disease

Abstract

Opuntia ficus-indica, commonly referred to as prickly pear or nopal cactus, is a dicotyledonous angiosperm plant. It belongs to the Cactaceae family and is characterized by its remarkable adaptation to arid and semi-arid climates in tropical and subtropical regions of the globe. In the last decade, compelling evidence for the nutritional and health benefit potential of this cactus has been provided by academic scientists and private companies. Notably, its rich composition in polyphenols, vitamins, polyunsaturated fatty acids and amino acids has been highlighted through the use of a large panel of extraction methods. The identified natural cactus compounds and derivatives were shown to be endowed with biologically relevant activities including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, hypoglycemic, antimicrobial and neuroprotective properties. The present review is aimed at stressing the major classes of cactus components and their medical interest through OPEN ACCESSMolecules 2014, 19 14880 emphasis on some of their biological effects, particularly those having the most promising expected health benefit and therapeutic impacts.

Opuntia humifusamodulates morphological changes characteristic of asthma via IL-4 and IL-13 in an asthma murine model

“…Karym et al reported that Opuntia humifusa-indica contains rutin in the range of 0.002–0.02% (w/w). Similary, we identified rutin in O. humifusa (0.38%), and rutin content in O. humifusa was 19 times higher than that of O. ficus-indica [44]. Cho et al reported that O. humifusa leaf has an anti-inflammatory effect, and quercetin was reported as one of the key marker.…”

Optimization of Ultrasound Extraction of Cactus Pear(Opuntia ficus indica)Seed Oil Based on Antioxidant Activity and Evaluation of Its Antimicrobial Activity

“…Some of these compounds are found in the seeds [8], which comprise 3 to 15% of the cactus pear pulp [9] and are usually considered waste after pulp processing [7]. Seeds also have a high content of oil (98.8 g/kg) [10] characterized by high levels of linoleic and oleic acids [7] and other components as phenols [11], all which may contribute to human health [12]. Currently, seed oils have been used as natural agents for food preservation [13], and many have exhibited antimicrobial and antioxidant activity; some of these oils are from pumpkin [14], apple [15], black cumin [16], and basil [17] among other seeds.…”

Traceability of Opuntia ficus‐indica L. Miller by ICP‐MS multi‐element profile and chemometric approach

“…13 Depending on the cultivar, the prickly pear may present three different pulp colors (red, yellow and white), due to the presence of water-soluble pigments such as betacyanins (purple-red) and betaxanthines (yellow-orange), used as natural food colorant. 14 This fruit also represents an interesting source of functional and healthy compounds, including total phenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, betalains, vitamins, free amino acids and the minerals Ca, Na, Mg, Zn, Fe, Mn and Se, 5,[15][16][17] with varying biological activities. 18,19 The identification of geographic provenience of food represents, first, a current and global issue for consumers, who show increasing interest in the traceability of food supply, and, second, an important quality parameter to bring about the protected denomination of origin for some foods.…”