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
SERINE 1 Bud 3830.0 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
SERINE 1 Seed 7665.0 -0.56 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
SHIKIMIC-ACID 14 Fruit 25.0 220.0 -1.00 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
SODIUM 1 Bud 90.0 -1.00 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
SODIUM 1 Seed 714.0 0.42 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
STEARIC-ACID 8 Flower *
STEARIC-ACID 8 Seed 3130.0 10555.0 -0.34 *
STEARIC-ACID 8 Seed Oil 58000.0 -0.47 *
STIGMAST-7-EN-3-BETA-OL 0 Seed Oil 70000.0 *
STIGMASTEROL 12 Seed Oil 65000.0 *
SUCCINIC-ACID 7 Fruit *
SUCROSE 14 Fruit *
SUGARS 0 Fruit 56000.0 560000.0 1.43 ANON. 1948-1976. The Wealth of India raw materials. Publications and Information Directorate, CSIR, New Delhi. 11 volumes.
TARTARIC-ACID 6 Fruit *
THIAMIN 31 Bud 0.1 -1.00 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
THIAMIN 31 Fruit 0.1 1.3 -0.52 *
THREONINE 4 Bud 3845.0 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
THREONINE 4 Seed 7330.0 -0.18 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
TOCOPHEROL 93 Bud 2.5 Laferriere, J.E., 1988, Nutricomp Program, Nutricomp Database; reviewed in J. Ethnobiology 9(1):27-29.
TRYPTOPHAN 29 Seed 1665.0 -0.57 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
Antiinfertility 4 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Antiinflammatory 13 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Antiinsomniac 4 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Antiinsomnic 1 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Antiischemic 1 *
Antikeratitic 1 *
Antiketotic 2 Merck 11th Edition
Antileishmanic 1 *
Antilepric 2 Martindale's 28th
Antileukemic 4 *
Antileukonychic 1 *
Antileukoplakic 1 *
Antileukotriene 1 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Antileukotriene-D4 2 *
Antilipoperoxidant 1 *
Antilithic 5 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Antilupus 2 Martindale's 28th
AntiLyme 5 *
Antilymphocytic 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Antilymphomic 3 *