An official website of the United States government.

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
U.S. Department of Agriculture
  1. Home
  2. Opuntia ficus-indica

Opuntia ficus-indica (Cactaceae)

Common Names
Indian Fig; Prickly Pear; Nopal; Nopalito
How this plant is used
Food

Select a Results View:

View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
Download these results as:
CSV
EXCEL
PDF
List of plant chemicals.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Chemical Name Activity Count Plant Part Low Parts Per Million High Parts Per Million Standard Deviation Reference
MALIC-ACID 15 Fruit 180.0 1700.0 -0.84 *
MALIC-ACID 15 Leaf 950.0 -1.18 *
MALIC-ACID 15 Plant *
MALONIC-ACID 1 Fruit *
MALONIC-ACID 1 Leaf *
MESCALINE 10 Shoot *
METHIONINE 15 Bud 1890.0 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
METHIONINE 15 Seed 4830.0 0.13 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
MUCILAGE 3 Stem *
MYRISTIC-ACID 6 Flower *
N-METHYL-TYRAMINE 1 Shoot *
NEOBETANIN 0 Flower *
NEOBETANIN 0 Fruit *
NEOBETANIN 0 Plant J.S. Glasby Dict.Pls Containing 2ndary Metabolite. 1991.
NIACIN 39 Bud 4.6 -1.00 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
NIACIN 39 Fruit 3.0 27.0 -0.45 *
OLEIC-ACID 18 Flower *
OLEIC-ACID 18 Seed 4750.0 16015.0 -0.85 *
OLEIC-ACID 18 Seed Oil 88000.0 -1.22 *
OPUNTIAXANTHIN 0 Fruit *
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
Download these results as:
CSV
EXCEL
PDF
List of plant activities.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Activity Chemical Count Reference
Carcinogenic 4 Hutchings, A, Scott, AH, Lewis, G, and Cunningham, A. 1996. Zulu
Medicinal Plants. An inventory. University of Natal Press, Pietermaritzburg. 450 pp.
Cardioprotective 7 *
Cardiotonic 1 *
Cardiotoxic 1 *
Cardiovascular 3 Borchard, R. E., Barnes, C. D., and Eltherton, L. G. 1991. Drug Dosage in Laboratory Animals: A Handbook. (3rd Ed.) The Telford Press, Inc., P. O. Box 287, Caldwell NJ 07006.
Caspase-8-Inducer 1 *
Catabolic 1 *
Cerebroprotective 1 Huang, K. C. 1993. The Pharmacology of Chinese Herbs. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL 388 pp.
Chemopreventive 4 *
Choleretic 5 Leung, A. Y. and Foster, S. 1995. Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients 2nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 649 pp.
Circulatory-Stimulant 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Circulotonic 2 *
CNS-Active 1 Borchard, R. E., Barnes, C. D., and Eltherton, L. G. 1991. Drug Dosage in Laboratory Animals: A Handbook. (3rd Ed.) The Telford Press, Inc., P. O. Box 287, Caldwell NJ 07006.
CNS-Depressant 3 Facciola, S. 1998. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, Vista CA. 713 pp.
CNS-Paralytic 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Cold-preventive 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Collagenic 2 *
Collyrium 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Colorant 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Comedolytic 1 *