Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Jan 25;12(3):543.
doi: 10.3390/plants12030543.

Opuntia ficus-indica Fruit: A Systematic Review of Its Phytochemicals and Pharmacological Activities

Luis Giraldo-Silva  1   2 , Bárbara Ferreira  1   2 , Eduardo Rosa  2 , Alberto C P Dias  1
Affiliations
Review

Opuntia ficus-indica Fruit: A Systematic Review of Its Phytochemicals and Pharmacological Activities

Luis Giraldo-Silva et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

The use of Opuntia ficus-indica fruits in the agro-food sector is increasing for a multiplicity of players. This renewed interest is, in part, due to its organoleptic characteristics, nutritional value and health benefits. Furthermore, industries from different sectors intend to make use of its vast array of metabolites to be used in different fields. This trend represents an economic growth opportunity for several partners who could find new opportunities exploring non-conventional fruits, and such is the case for Opuntia ficus-indica. O. ficus-indica originates from Mexico, belongs to the Cactaceae family and is commonly known as opuntia, prickly pear or cactus pear. The species produces flowers, cladodes and fruits that are consumed either in raw or in processed products. Recent publications described that consumption of the fruit improves human health, exhibiting antioxidant activity and other relevant pharmacological activities through enzymatic and non-enzymatic mechanisms. Thus, we provide a systematic, scientific and rational review for researchers, consumers and other relevant stakeholders regarding the chemical composition and biological activities of O. ficus-indica fruits.

Keywords: antioxidants; betalains; bioactive compounds; food and health; phenolics; prickly pear.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram: search strategy and analyzed data.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram: search strategy and analyzed data.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Final output of 369 records (from 194 selected papers) organized into three categories: phytochemicals, betalains and biological activities. (A) Data expressed in percentage. (B) Data expressed as number of records.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Frequency of records classified into chemical characterization category (expressed as percentage) (A) Techniques used to characterize and quantify O. ficus-indica chemical composition. (B) Type of chromatographic technique. HPLC—High performance liquid chromatography, GC—Gas chromatography, HSCCC—High speed counter current chromatography.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Frequency of records classified into pigment category (A) Data obtained from 120 records. (B) Methodology used for pigment quantification; HPLC—High performance liquid chromatography.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(A) Percentage of records dealing with biological activities (from a total of 396 records used in the study). (B) Resulting sub-categories after the biological activities analysis.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Biochemical assays. Information classified, according to the frequency of methodologies mentioned, into the biological activities sub-category. DPPH: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl; ABTS: green–blue stable radical cationic chromophore, 2,2-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate); FRAP: ferric reducing antioxidant power; ORAC: oxygen radical absorbance capacity; ICA: iron chelating activity; TBARS: Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Frequency of sub-records classified according to the biological interaction (91 in total).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. De Leo M., De Abreu M.B., Pawlowska A., Cioni P., Braca A. Profiling the chemical content of Opuntia ficus-indica flowers by HPLC–PDA-ESI-MS and GC/EIMS analyses. Phytochem. Lett. 2010;3:48–52. doi: 10.1016/j.phytol.2009.11.004. - DOI
    1. Abascal K., Yarnell E. A Review of Prickly Pear the Upscale Medicinal Food. Altern. Complement. Ther. 2000;6:265–271. doi: 10.1089/act.2000.6.265. - DOI
    1. Kluge M., Ting I.P. Crassulacean Acid Metabolism: Analysis of an Ecological Adaptation. Volume 30 Springer Science & Business Media; Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany: 2012.
    1. Ayadi M., Abdelmaksoud W., Ennouri M., Attia H. Cladodes from Opuntia ficus indica as a source of dietary fiber: Effect on dough characteristics and cake making. Ind. Crop. Prod. 2009;30:40–47. doi: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2009.01.003. - DOI
    1. Rocchetti G., Pellizzoni M., Montesano D., Lucini L. Italian Opuntia ficus-indica Cladodes as Rich Source of Bioactive Compounds with Health-Promoting Properties. Foods. 2018;7:24. doi: 10.3390/foods7020024. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources