• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.160-166
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• 2000

The extracts of Opuntia ficus indica var. saboten were obtained by using seven solvents of increasing polarity and their antioxidative and antimicrobial activities were investigated along with thermal stability. The highest antioxidative activity expressed as electron donating ability and antimicrobial activity were observed in the 95% ethanol extract. Cell growth inhibition was not apparent on Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhimurium, but was great on Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus and staphylococcus aureus at the level of 4.5 mg/ml medium. The ethanol extract of Opuntia ficus indica var. saboten showed the thermal stability in the range of 40∼120$\^{C}$. It was re-extracted sequentially with hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol, and water, among which ethyl acetate fraction showed the highest inhibitory effect against Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus and Escherichia coli.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.205-211
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• 2007

The fruits and stems of Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten have been reported to exhibit a variety of pharmacological actions, including antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-ulcer effects. In the present study, we evaluated effects of the butanol fraction (SK OFB901) prepared from the 50% ethanol extract of the stems on various types of neuronal injuries induced by oxidative stress, excitotoxins, and amyloid ${\beta}\;(A_{\beta})$ in primary cultured rat cortical cells. Its antioxidant and radical scavenging activities were also evaluated by cell-free bioassays. We found that SK OFB901 strongly inhibited the oxidative neuronal damage induced by $H_2O_2$ or xanthine/xanthine oxidase. In addition, it exhibited marked inhibition of the excitotoxic neuronal damage induced by glutamate, N-methyl-D-aspartic acid, or kainate. Furthermore, the $A_{\beta(25-35)}$-induced neurotoxicity was also significantly attenuated by SK OFB901. It was found to inhibit lipid peroxidation initiated by $Fe^{2+}$ and L-ascorbic acid in rat brain homogenates and scavenge 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radicals. These results indicate that the butanol fraction prepared from the stems of Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten exerts potent antioxidant and neuroprotective effects through multiple mechanisms, implying its potential applications for the prevention or management of neurodegenerative disorders associated with oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, and $A{\beta}$.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.2 s.69
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• pp.279-286
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• 2005

The Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten Makino (Cactus) is a tropical or subtropical plant, which is cultivated or grows naturally in Jeju island. It has been widely used as folk medicine for burned wound, edema and indigestion. In addition, its extract has been claimed to have several biological activities including anti-inflammation in oriental medicine. In this study, we examined the antimicrobial activities of the methanol extract of Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten Makino. The extract showed a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria, including antibiotics resistant bacteria (MRSA, R-P. aeruginosa, VRE) and Propionibacterium acnes, yeast, and fungi. The extract retained the activity after heat treatment for 15 min at $100^{\circ}C$ and $121^{\circ}C$ and after extended storage, up to 10 weeks storage period at $4^{\circ}C$ and $25^{\circ}C$, also stably retained its activity. It showed a better inhibitoring effect to the growth of E. coli than sodium benzoate did it at the same concentration. Addition of various salts or metal ions did not affect on its antimicrobial activity. Therefore, the antimicrobial characteristics of the extract can be applicable as a natural preservative and an antimicrobial agent for bacterial disease.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.358-365
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• 2019

This study investigated the effects of dietary cactus Opuntia ficus-indica stem and fruit extract on the growth, flesh quality, lysozyme activity, and histological changes of growing Korean rockfish Sebastes schlegeli. Three replicates of fish (152 g/fish) were fed one of the following diets: containing 0 additions (control); 0.1, 0.5, or 1.0% cactus stem powder; or 1.0% fruit extract for 11 weeks. Growth performance did not differ significantly among treatments, including survival, final weight, feed efficiency, and daily feed intake. The experimental diets did not affect the proximate and fatty acid compositions, plasma biochemistry, or dorsal muscle texture of the fish. However, the plasma lysozyme activity of the fish fed the diet containing 0.1% cactus stem was significantly higher than that of the fish fed the control diet. These fish had variously sized lipid vacuoles in the liver tissue compared with the control. Distinct mucosal folds and mucus-secreting goblet cells developed in the fish fed the diet containing 1% cactus stem compared with the other dietary groups. These results suggest that feeding growing Korean rockfish cactus stem might increase the plasma lysozyme activity and induce histological changes in the gastrointestinal tract that might be related to digestion.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.967-974
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• 2009

The effects of Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten powder on the growth of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were investigated in order to explore the possibility of manufacturing fermented milk containing the powder. Differences in pH, acidity, LAB counts, viscosity, and sensory evaluation were measured. Also the effects of dietary supplementation on the growth of piglets were evaluated by feeding fermented milks containing 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.5%, and 1.0% Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten powder. Levels of pH, titratable acidity, viable LAB counts and viscosity were significantly different by the addition of the powder. When fermented milks containg 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.5% and 1.0% Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten powder were kept at $4^{\circ}C$ for 30 days, viable LAB counts remained high after 30 days of storage. The effects of dietary supplementation of 0.2% Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten fermented milk were investigated by examining piglet growth rate and fecal ammonia gas release. The piglets were fed 100g/herd of the fermented milk for 14 days. Average daily body weight gain was significantly (p<0.05) improved (110%) with dietary supplementation of the fermented milk, compared to a control group. More over, fecal ammonia gas emissions were reduced by dietary supplementation of the Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten fermented milk. Sensory evaluation results showed that the samples containing 0.1% and 0.2% Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten powder had the most parameters similar to those of the control.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2008

Immune activities of Opuntia ficus indica L. Miller were investigated through aqueous extracts associated with ultrasonification process at $60^{\circ}C$, and showed the highest promotion of human B and T cell growth, up to 52% and 41%, respectively, compared to the control. The secretion of TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-60 was also enhanced by the addition $(0.5mg/m{\ell})$ of the extracts, up to 48%. NK cell activation was significantly improved up to 1.3 times higher than the case of adding other extracts. It was also found that extracts from O. ficus indica could yield higher nitric oxide production from macrophage than Lipopolysaccaharides (LPS). It can be concluded that, in general, the extracts treated with ultrasonification has higher Immune acitivities than others, possibly by higher yielding immune-modulatory than conventional extraction process. The optimum condition for the extraction of O. ficus-indicais water extraction associated with ultrasonification.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.32 no.4 s.127
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• pp.330-337
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• 2001

Prickly pear(Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten Makino, Cactaceae) is a tropical or subtropical plant, which is widely used as folk medicine for burned wound, edema and indigestion. Screening on the biological properties of the fruits(OFS-Fr) and stems(OFS-St) of the plant was carried out to prove the pharmacological significance. By hot plate and acetic acid-inducing writhing methods, significant analgesic effects of OFS-Fr and OFS-St were found in mice and anti-edemic effect was observed in carrageenin-induced inflammatory rats. However, the extracts showed no significant actions on central and autonomic nervous system and blood circulatory system, which imply no toxic effects to animal.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2008

In this study, we examined in vitro antimicrobial activity of the hydrolysis compound (MBT-01108) of cactus stem (Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten Makino) against 18 strains of fish pathogenic bacteria, Edwardsiella tarda, Listonella anguillarum, Vibrio sp., Lactococcus garvieae, L. raffinose, Streptococcus parauberis and S. iniae. Antibiotic susceptibility of the same bacteria was also assayed to commercial discs containing various antibacterials. According to these results, MBT-01108 showed the excellent antimicrobial activity against the tested pathogenic bacteria.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.526-534
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• 2013

This study was conducted to examine the effects of Opuntia ficus-indica complex (OF) on the lipid metabolism, bile acid in feces, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity, aspatate aminotransferase (AST) activity, composition of urine and expression of cholesterol related mRNA in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Thirty two male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into non-diabetic control (NC), diabetic control (DC), diabetic OF of 2% (OF-2) and diabetic OF of 5% (OF-5), then each group was fed for 3 weeks. Plasma total cholesterol, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) were decreased significantly (p<0.05) in OF-5 group compared to DC, but high density lipoprotein (HDL) was not changed. AST and ALT were also reduced and bile acid excretion was improved. Composition of urine in OF-5 was almost same in NC. The expression of cholesterol $7{\alpha}$-hydroxylase (CYP7A1), 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA-R), Low density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R) mRNA indicated that feeding OF have the effects of cholesterol decreation in plasma by synthesis of bile acid from cholesterol. These results provide experimental evidence about improved lipid metabolism of the OF feeding in the STZ-induced diabetic rats.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.115-121
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• 2007

Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten (Cactaceae) is widely cultivated in Jeju Island (South Korea) for use in the manufacture of health foods such as tea, jam and juice. Its fruit and stem have been traditionally used as oriental folk medicine to treat diabetes, hypertension, asthma, burns, edema and indigestion. During the search for naturally occurring antioxidative neuroprotective agents, it was found that the ethyl acetate fraction of the stems and fruits of Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten exhibited potent antioxidant effect. Using a chromatographic fractionation method, several constituents were isolated from this fraction. Among isolates, KYS50182 showed the most potent in vitro and in vivo neuroprotective activities, suggesting that the flavonoid can serve as a lead structure for the development of neuroprotective agents by providing neuroprotection against oxidative and focal ischemic neuronal injuries.