Effect of Nopal (Opuntia ficus indica) Consumption at Different Maturity Stages as an Only Calcium Source on Bone Mineral Metabolism in Growing Rats.
Abstract
This work determines the effect nopal consumption at different maturity stages (60, 200, 400, and 600 g) as the only calcium source in bone metabolism. The apparent mineral absorption, the biomarkers of bone metabolism, the bone mineral density at different femoral regions, and crystal properties of the bone were evaluated during the growth stage. The Ca absorption was increased with the rat age in most of the experimental groups, while Mg supplementation decreased intestinal absorption probably due to a saturation process. Intestinal Ca and Mg absorption showed an opposite trend; this result sug...
Source: Biological Trace Element Research - May 23, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: Hernandez-Becerra E, Mendoza-Avila M, Jiménez-Mendoza D, Gutierrez-Cortez E, Rodríguez-García ME, Rojas-Molina I Tags: Biol Trace Elem Res Source Type: research
The Antimicrobial and Wound Healing Potential of Opuntia ficus indica L. inermis Extracted Oil from Tunisia.
Conclusion: OFI extracted oil has in vitro antimicrobial/fungal properties and in vivo wound healing activity. It seems to be efficient in the treatment of cutaneous infections and the promoting of the scarring process.
PMID: 31097975 [PubMed] (Source: Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine)
Source: Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine - May 18, 2019 Category: Complementary Medicine Tags: Evid Based Complement Alternat Med Source Type: research
Phenolic compound profile and biological activities of Southern African Opuntia ficus-indica fruit pulp and peels
This study investigated the phenolic compound profiles and biological activities of Opuntia prickly pear fruit and peel extracts and the effect of drying methods on extract yields and bioactivities. Ethanolic, methanolic and hexane extracts of freeze-dried Opuntia peels showed better in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities compared to oven-dried peel and fruit pulp extracts. In most cases, freeze-dried samples also showed better extract yields. Antibacterial activities of the extracts were better against Gram-positive (inhibition zone range of 8.0–18.8 mm) compared to Gram-negative (inhibition zone range of 1...
Source: LWT Food Science and Technology - May 12, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Polyphenols: Immunomodulatory and Therapeutic Implication in Colorectal Cancer
Conclusions
The current review reports recent epidemiological and experimental data supporting the bright future of dietary polyphenols as chemopreventive, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and anticancer agents in CRC (Figure 1). The polyphenol-rich diet not only may represent a chemopreventive treatment but also has important function on immune system by promoting symbiont and commensal bacterial populations, increases reciprocal interaction between host and microbiota which in turn have important effects on immune function Evidence underlines the use of polyphenols as sensitizers of chemo/radiotherapies paving the w...
Source: Frontiers in Immunology - April 10, 2019 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research
Comparative Study on the Influence of Some Medicinal Plants on Diabetes Induced by Streptozotocin in Male Rats.
Abstract
Medicinal plants have played an important role in the treatment of many diseases. Medicinal plants are believed to be well appropriate with the human body and to produce less side influences than the pharmaceuticals. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has abundant and wide variety of medicinal plants whose therapeutic effects have not been adequately studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the hypoglycemic activities of the extracts of three plant species collected from Albaha region of Saudi Arabia including Olea oleaster (Oleaceae family) leaves (OLE), Juniperus procera (Cupressaceae family) leav...
Source: Biomed Res - April 4, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Almalki DA, Alghamdi SA, Al-Attar AM Tags: Biomed Res Int Source Type: research
Natural dietary antioxidants containing flavonoids modulate keratinocytes physiology: In vitro tri-culture models
Conclusions: The data demonstrated that in vitro tri-culture approach is suitable to characterize the role of natural compounds on the complex communication between dermal-epidermal cellular components and microvascular endothelium. Specifically, Opuntia and MT are good alternatives to synthetic compounds in skin repair promotion.Graphical abstract (Source: Journal of Ethnopharmacology)
Source: Journal of Ethnopharmacology - March 31, 2019 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research
Spineless cactus ( Opuntia ficus-indica ) and saltbush ( Atriplex halimus L.) as feed supplements for fattening Awassi male lambs: effect on digestibility, water consumption, blood metabolites, and growth performance
AbstractThe effect of replacing 13.6% and 20.3% of a total ration of fattening Awassi lambs by two combinations of fresh saltbush (Atriplex halimus) and fresh spineless cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) cladodes at a ratio of 1.9:1 (TRT1) and 1.7:1 (TRT2) on water intake, digestibility, blood metabolites, and fattening performance was evaluated. Thirty-six lambs with average initial live weight 34.5 ± 4.18 kg were randomly assigned to three diets (control, TRT1, and TRT2). The control received a diet containing 166 g/kg barley straw and 834 g/kg of commercial concentrate mixture; TRT1 comprised 126 g barley straw, 73...
Source: Tropical Animal Health and Production - March 4, 2019 Category: Veterinary Research Source Type: research
Thermoprotective properties of Opuntia ficus-indica f. inermis cladodes and mesocarps on sheep lymphocytes
This study aims to investigate the thermoprotective properties of Opuntia ficus-indica f. inermis. Extracts were prepared from cladodes (CE) and mesocarps (ME), then subjected to a spectrophotometric and LC-MS analyses. Lymphocytes were isolated from peripheral blood of non-stressed sheep, supplemented with CE, ME, betanin or α-tocopherol, and subjected to two thermal treatments: 40 and 41 °C, for 6 h. Viable lymphocytes and H2O2 production were evaluated.The antioxidant activity of ME was 3.43 folds higher than CE. The LC-MS analysis of CE and ME allowed identifying 11 phenolic acids, 2 flavanones, 6 flavones,...
Source: Journal of Thermal Biology - February 28, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: research
[ASAP] Digestion and Colonic Fermentation of Raw and Cooked < italic toggle="yes" > Opuntia ficus-indica < /italic > Cladodes Impacts Bioaccessibility and Bioactivity
Journal of Agricultural and Food ChemistryDOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.8b06480 (Source: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry)
Source: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry - February 25, 2019 Category: Food Science Authors: Elsy De Santiago, Chris I. R. Gill, Ilaria Carafa, Kieran M. Tuohy, Mar ía-Paz De Peña, Concepción Cid Source Type: research
A contemporary review on plant-based coagulants for applications in water treatment
Publication date: 25 April 2019Source: Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Volume 72Author(s): Mussarat Saleem, Robert Thomas BachmannAbstractConventional coagulants, like aluminium sulphate and ferric chloride, are used in potable water treatment and involve non-sustainable mining and transformation of raw materials for their production with costly sludge disposal. Natural coagulants are mostly obtained from bacteria, fungi, animals and plants and are classified as polysaccharide, amino-polysaccharide, poly-phenols and proteins-based substances. Plant-based coagulants extracted from Moringa oleifera, Strychno...
Source: Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry - February 13, 2019 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research
An oral toxicity test in rats and a genotoxicity study of extracts from the stems of Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten
Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten (OFIS) is used widely in Korea to treat constipation due to its diuretic effects and its enhancement of bowel function and appetite. However, its safety has not yet been establis... (Source: BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine)
Source: BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine - January 28, 2019 Category: Complementary Medicine Authors: Eun Hye Han, Mi Kyung Lim, Sang Ho Lee, Md. Mahbubur Rahman and Young-Hee Lim Tags: Research article Source Type: research
The comparison of betalain composition and chosen biological activities for differently pigmented prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) and beetroot (Beta vulgaris) varieties.
Authors: Koss-Mikołajczyk I, Kusznierewicz B, Wiczkowski W, Sawicki T, Bartoszek A
Abstract
Betalains are a group of plant originated pigments with chemopreventive potential. The aim of this study was to relate the composition of betalains and chosen biological activities (antioxidant, cytotoxic, anti-genotoxic and influence on enzymatic activities) for extracts from differently pigmented varieties of prickly pear (yellow, orange and red) and beetroot (white and red). The assumption was that phytocomplexes of tested varieties of the same plant species would exhibit generally similar chemical composition d...
Source: International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition - January 12, 2019 Category: Nutrition Tags: Int J Food Sci Nutr Source Type: research
Encapsulated betalains (Opuntia ficus-indica) as natural colorants. Case study: Gummy candies
Publication date: Available online 31 December 2018Source: LWTAuthor(s): María Carolina Otálora, Helber de Jesús Barbosa, Jairo Ernesto Perilla, Coralia Osorio, Mónica Azucena NazarenoAbstractGummy candies were selected as model food system to incorporate betalain-rich capsules (BC) obtained by ionic gelation with calcium alginate from a betalain-rich extract of Opuntia-ficus-indica fruit. Ten formulations were obtained by a factorial design (2 × 5) with two types of gelatin (GA and GB), and five betalain-rich capsules/gelatin (BC/G) ratios (from 70/30 to 30/70). The rheological and morphological properties of all...
Source: LWT Food Science and Technology - January 4, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Pleurotus opuntiae revisited – An insight to the phylogeny of dimitic Pleurotus species with emphasis on the P. djamor complex
Publication date: Available online 27 December 2018Source: Fungal BiologyAuthor(s): Georgios I. Zervakis, Giuseppe Venturella, Vassiliki Fryssouli, Paolo Inglese, Elias Polemis, Maria Letizia GarganoAbstractThe name Pleurotus opuntiae is indiscriminately used for describing mushrooms with white to off-white to white-grey pilei with short or absent stipe and dimitic hyphal system, which grow on plants of the genera Opuntia, Yucca, Agave, Phytolacca etc. and present a world-wide distribution. However, the outcome of the present study evidences that this name should be reserved for specimens deriving from the Mediterranean ar...
Source: Fungal Biology - December 28, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Prickly pear peels as a valuable resource of added-value polysaccharide: Study of structural, functional and film forming properties.
Abstract
Valorization of agricultural by-products constitutes a promising approach for sustainable development. Mucilage was extracted with a simple and safe method from Opuntia ficus-indica fruit peels which are considered as unexploited wastes resulting from the huge consumption of prickly pears. Structural and functional properties of the extracted polysaccharide were studied. Peels mucilage was composed of 97% carbohydrates, essentially galactose, arabinose, xylose and galacturonic acid. Specific signals of these sugars were observed in 13C and 1H NMR spectra and their chemical fingerprint was obtained...
Source: International Journal of Biological Macromolecules - December 24, 2018 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Gheribi R, Habibi Y, Khwaldia K Tags: Int J Biol Macromol Source Type: research
