Prickly Pear Fruit

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Prickly Pear, or Cactus Pear fruit, is a fruit of the Cactaceae (Cactus) family that is commonly used in Southern America, Mexico, and Spain as an edible plant.

It seems to show benefit in usage against the state of diabetes and high blood cholesterol, but its benefits seem only therapeutic. Interventions with healthy persons do not show the same benefit as with diabetics, suggesting that usage of prickly pear as preventative medicine may be misguided.

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Recommended dosage of Prickly Pear Fruit is the whole fruit, typically 200g or above.

Edit1. Sources and Composition

The cactus pear fruit is a member of the Cactaceae family and is a common vegetation in Mexico, the Mediterranean, and much of Southern America. They come in a variety of colors ranging from red to yellow to white, which is due to varying combinations of the red-purple pigment betalain and the yellow-orange pigment indicaxanthin.^[1]

Cactus Pear Fruit contains:

• Vitamin C

• The betalains 'betanin' and 'indicaxanthin'^[1]

• The soluble fiber 'pectin'^[2]

Yellow cactus pear is much higher in betanin pigments, whereas red fruits are higher in indicaxanthin. The former can reach ratios of 1:8 Betanin:Indicaxanthin whereas the latter can reach 2:1 ratios.^[1][3] White fruits tend to have the greatest anti-oxidant fighting capabilities.^[1]

Edit2. Effects on heart health

2.1. Interactions with blood glucose

Cactus pear fruit (specifically, the species Opuntia Ficus Indica), in the dose of 500g of the fruit, appears to be able to reduce post-prandial (after meal) blood sugar levels.^[4] The compound(s) causative of the benefit appear to not be affected by varying preparation methods and seem to be heat stable up to 60°C and is the Cactus Fruit more commonly used in meal preparation.^[4]

The less palatable species Opuntia streptacantha has a well established role as being protective against diet-induced diabetes by controlling blood sugar levels.^[5][6]|published=1989 Apr-Jun|authors=Frati-Munari AC, Del Valle-Martínez LM, Ariza-Andraca CR, Islas-Andrade S, Chávez-Negrete A|journal=Arch Invest Med (Mex)]^[7][8] However, these beneficial effects may not occur in healthy persons^[9][10] and supplemental forms typically underdose.^[11]|published=1992 Jul-Aug|authors=Frati Munari AC, Vera Lastra O, Ariza Andraca CR|journal=Gac Med Mex]

2.2. Interactions with serum lipids

Cactus pear appears to be able to reverse suppression of the LDL receptors in the liver that are commonly expressed in cases of high cholesterol.^[2] It does not affect cholesterol absorption from the diet like many soluble fibers^[12] but seems to be able to reduce serum cholesterol vicariously through the formerly described mechanism.^[13][2]

2.3. Anti-oxidation

In a comparitive study against vitamin C (a standard of which anti-oxidants are tested against), Cactus pear fruit (250g pulp) was able to beneficially affect various markers of oxidation whereas vitamin C was not.^[14]

Edit3. Anti-viral

Cactus pear fruit appears to possess anti-viral properties.^[15]

References

1. Butera D, et al. Antioxidant activities of sicilian prickly pear (Opuntia ficus indica) fruit extracts and reducing properties of its betalains: betanin and indicaxanthin. J Agric Food Chem. (2002)
2. Fernandez ML, et al. Prickly pear (Opuntia sp.) pectin reverses low density lipoprotein receptor suppression induced by a hypercholesterolemic diet in guinea pigs. J Nutr. (1992)
3. Stintzing FC, et al. Color, betalain pattern, and antioxidant properties of cactus pear (Opuntia spp.) clones. J Agric Food Chem. (2005)
4. Hypoglycemic effect of Opuntia ficus indica in non insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients
5. Ibañez-Camacho R, Meckes-Lozoya M, Mellado-Campos V. The hypoglucemic effect of Opuntia streptacantha studied in different animal experimental models. J Ethnopharmacol. (1983)
6. [Hypoglycemic action of different doses of nopal (Opuntia streptacantha Lemaire) in patients with type II diabetes mellitus
7. Andrade-Cetto A, Wiedenfeld H. Anti-hyperglycemic effect of Opuntia streptacantha Lem. J Ethnopharmacol. (2011)
8. Frati-Munari AC, et al. Hypoglycemic effect of Opuntia streptacantha Lemaire in NIDDM. Diabetes Care. (1988)
9. Frati AC, et al. The effect of two sequential doses of Opuntia streptacantha upon glycemia. Arch Invest Med (Mex). (1991)
10. Frati AC, et al. Influence of nopal intake upon fasting glycemia in type II diabetics and healthy subjects. Arch Invest Med (Mex). (1991)
11. [Evaluation of nopal capsules in diabetes mellitus
12. Fernandez ML, et al. Prickly pear (Opuntia sp.) pectin alters hepatic cholesterol metabolism without affecting cholesterol absorption in guinea pigs fed a hypercholesterolemic diet. J Nutr. (1994)
13. Fernandez ML, Trejo A, McNamara DJ. Pectin isolated from prickly pear (Opuntia sp.) modifies low density lipoprotein metabolism in cholesterol-fed guinea pigs. J Nutr. (1990)
14. Tesoriere L, et al. Supplementation with cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) fruit decreases oxidative stress in healthy humans: a comparative study with vitamin C. Am J Clin Nutr. (2004)
15. Ahmad A, et al. Antiviral properties of extract of Opuntia streptacantha. Antiviral Res. (1996)

(Common misspellings for Prickly Pear Fruit include prick, prikly, prickley, opentia, caktus, kactus, kaktus, sisilian, frut)

(Common phrases used by users for this page include prickly pear health DOSAGE, opuntia streptacantha supplement, is prickly pear fruit good for diabetic, is a prickly pear bad?, hypoglycemic effect of the nopal opuntia streptacantha lemaire (o. streptacantha lem.), frati et al. 1989,, how much vitamin c does cactus pear contain?)

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