• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.33 no.3 s.130
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• pp.230-237
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• 2002

Prickly pear(Opuntia ficus-indica var saboten Makino, Cactaceae) is widely used as folk medicine for burned wound, edema and indigestion. To confirm the hypolipidemic action of the extract from Cactus stem and fruit in dietary hyperlipidemic rats, variations of the lipid- or cholesterol-related components were investigated. As results these changes were significantly prevented by treatments with Cactus extracts. The effects of the extract of fruit was better than those of stem.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1998.11a
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• pp.187-187
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• 1998

The objective was to verify biological activities of fruit and stem of prickly pear(Opuntia ficus indica L. var, saboten Makino). We have determined inhibitory activities on enzymes, such as dopamine ${\beta}$-hydroxylase(DBH), monoamme oxidase A and B(MAO-A, B), and antioxidant activity, in vitro. We purchased dried stem powder and lyophilized fruit powder of prickly pear from CheJu Island, and prepared the extracts with 80% of methanol. The fruit extract showed stronger inhibitory effects on MAO-A and -B and antioxidant activity compared. to the stem extract, on fractionation with hexane, ethyl acetate, butanol and water. Both the stem and the fruit extracts with ethyl acetate showed stronger enzyme inhibitory and antioxidant activities than other extracts. Now we are isolating active principles from both ethyl acetate extracts.

• Food Industry And Nutrition
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.53-59
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• 2004

• Proceedings of the Korean Nutrition Society Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.229.2-229.2
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• 2003

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2004

Lactic acid fermentation of prickly pear extract (PPE) was performed by Lactobacillus rhamnosus LS, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, and Lactobacillus brevis. The PPE was pasteurized to eliminate indigenous microorganisms as well as to dissolve the partially insoluble pulp. The PPE fermented without yeast extract by L. rhamnosus LS exhibited 0.57％ acidity and 3.5${\times}$10$^{8}$ CFU/mL bacteria count. With the addition of 0.2% edible yeast extract the PPE fermented by L. rhamnosus LS exhibited 1.15％ acidity,2.7${\times}$10$^{9}$ CFU/mL bacteria count and 95.0% retention of red color. When 5％ fructose syrup was added, the PPE fermented by L. rhamnosus LS had 1.09% acidity, 6.5${\times}$10$^{8}$ CFU/mL, and 97.7% retention of red color. With 1∼3% (w/v) concentrations of starter, the PPE fermented by L. bulgaricus and L. brevis showed 0.97% and 0.65% acidities, respectively. The viable cell counts from L. rhamnosus LS fermentation were higher compared with those of other LAB. During cold storage at 4$^{\circ}C$, the viable cell count was well maintained for 3 weeks, but then rapidly decreased. The red pigment was highly stable during cold storage for 4 weeks. The pasteurized PPE fortified with 5% fructose syrup, 0.2% yeast extract, and 0.05% CaCO$_3$ was successfully fermented by inoculating with 3% LAB and incubating at 3$0^{\circ}C$ for 2 days. Both viable cell counts and the red color of the fermented PPE were well maintained during cold storage for 3 weeks.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.408-413
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• 2005

Rheological properties and sensory characteristics of prickly pear jelly made from κ-carrageenan and glucomannan were examined. Prickly pear extract (PPE) fermented by Lactobacillus casei LS (isolated from soy milk curd residue) exhibited pH 3.12, 1.15% acidity (lactic acid) and 2.7 × 10/sup 9/ CFU/mL lactic acid bacteria. In the effect of concentration of fermented PPE, the jelly containing 4% fermented PPE had higher springiness and slightly lower hardness than that without fermented PPE, and was superior to color and taste. The hardness and brittleness of jellies were enhanced by the addition of 0.25% citric acid. The addition of 0.25% ascorbic acid resulted in the production of soft jelly like pudding. In the effect of concentration of κ-carrageenan, the hardness and springiness of jellies were increased by adding 0.75% κ-carrageenan, but was decreased by adding at the 0.9% level. In the overall preference of jellies including sweet and sour taste, higher score was obtained by the fortification of 0.6% and 0.75% κ-carrageenan, 0.25% citric acid and 30% fructose syrup.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.33 no.3 s.130
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• pp.238-244
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• 2002

The extracts from stem and fruit of Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten Makino) were applied to confirm the antiatherosclerotic effects in subacute alcoholic hyperlipidemic rats. It was observed that several indications of hyperlipidemia were prevented or changed by the treatments of the extracts but activities of hepatic HMG-CoA reductase and alcohol dehydrogenase were not affected, which suggest that the extracts may promote the fecal excretion and delay the absorption of alcohol in hyperlipidemic rats.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.356-362
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• 2015

Prickly pear cactus cladodes were extracted with hot water and 70% ethanol, followed by fractionation with n-hexane (HF), ethyl acetate (EF), n-butanol (BF), and distilled water. Total phenolics and total flavonoid contents as well as antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities were then measured. Total phenolic contents were 784, 452, and 220 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g, whereas total flavonoid contents were 214, 76, and 113 mg quercetin equivalents (QE)/g in EF, BF, and HF, respectively. DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities ($IC_{50}$) were 103 and $105{\mu}g/mL$ in EF, 359 and $379{\mu}g/mL$ in BF, and 469 and $605{\mu}g/mL$ in HF, respectively. Oxygen radical absorbance capacity was highest at $391{\mu}M$ TE in EF (in decreasing order of $117{\mu}M$ TE in BF and $64{\mu}M$ TE in HF), whereas superoxide anion radical scavenging activity ($IC_{50}$) was highest at $40{\mu}g/mL$ in EF (in decreasing order of $69{\mu}g/mL$ in BF and $98{\mu}g/mL$ in 70% ethanol extract). Inhibitory activity ($IC_{50}$) of nitric oxide (NO) production induced by LPS-activated RAW264.7 cells was highest at $62{\mu}g/mL$ in HF (in decreasing order of $104{\mu}g/mL$ in EF and $465{\mu}g/mL$ in BF). The selectivity index (ratio of inhibitory activity of NO production to cell cytotoxicity) was highest at 4.63 in EF (in decreasing order of 3.37 in HF and 2.14 in BF). In conclusion, EF showed potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects with high phenolic and flavonoid contents.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.953-958
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• 2009

The antimicrobial activities, antioxidant effects, and total polyphenol contents of extracts of Prickly Pear Opuntia ficus indica, were investigated. In antimicrobial activity assays of solvent extract fractions, methanol and butanol extracts showed higher activities than did hexane and ether extracts. The stem showed a higher antimicrobial activity than did the fruit. When the antimicrobial activities of fruit and stem extracts was tested using 10 bacterial strains, strong activity was evident against Escherichia coli, with a lowest minimum inhibitory concentration of 100 mg/disk. However, no antimicrobial activities against lactic bacteria or yeasts were evident, even with disks containing more than 500 mg extract/disk. Antimicrobial substances in butanol extracts of fruit and stem maintained activity after heating at $100^{\circ}C$ for 30 min and were not affected by changes in pH. DPPH free radical-scavenging activities of solvent extracts were in the order of water, ethyl acetate, butanol, ether, and ethanol. The stem showed greater DPPH free radical-scavenging activity than did the fruit. The total polyphenol contents in fruit and stem were 520.57 and 203.26 mg%, respectively.