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
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
FIBER 15 Bud 89400.0 -1.00 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
FIBER 15 Fruit 11000.0 59000.0 -0.78 *
FIBER 15 Seed 111000.0 524000.0 3.07 *
FRUCTOSE 8 Fruit 4500.0 44100.0 -0.22 *
GALACTOSE 1 Fruit *
GALACTOSE 1 Gum Rizk, A.F.M. and Al-Nowaihi, A.S., The Phytochemistry of the Horticultural Plants of Qatar, Scientific and Applied Research Centre, University of Qatar.
GALACTURONIC-ACID 0 Stem *
GLUCOSE 7 Fruit 50.0 480.0 -0.89 *
GLUCOSE 7 Stem *
GLUTAMIC-ACID 8 Bud 16000.0 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
GLUTAMIC-ACID 8 Seed 37500.0 -0.18 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
GLYCINE 12 Bud 4745.0 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
GLYCINE 12 Seed 14200.0 0.47 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
HISTAMINE 18 Bud 2555.0 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
HISTAMINE 18 Seed 4550.0 1.00 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
INDICAXANTHIN 1 Fruit 22.0 *
IRON 6 Fruit 12.0 65.0 -0.27 *
IRON 6 Seed 100.0 -0.24 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
ISOBETANIN 1 Fruit *
ISOLEUCINE 3 Bud 4140.0 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
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
Antiasthmatic 3 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Antiatherogenic 2 *
Antiatheromic 1 Cerda, J.J. Pectin in Health and Disease. HortScience, 25(12): 1485, 1990.
Antiatherosclerotic 7 *
Antibackache 1 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Antibacterial 11 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Antiberiberi 1 *
Antibiotic 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
AntiBPH 1 *
Antibronchitic 1 *
Anticalculic 1 *
Anticancer 4 *
Anticancer (Breast) 2 Madhavi, D. L., Bomser, J., Smith, M., Singletary, K. 1998. Isolation of Bioactive Constituents from Vaccinium myrtillus (Bilberry) Fruits and Cell Cultures. Plant Sci., 131(1): 95-103.
Anticancer (Cervix) 1 *
Anticancer (Lung) 1 *
Anticanker 3 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Anticapillary-Fragility 1 Merck 7th Ed.
Anticarcinogenic 1 *
Anticarcinomic 2 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Anticardiospasmic 1 *