Prickly pear, nutritional composition, anti-inflammatory activity, anti-carcinogenic activity, antioxidant activity, hypolipidemic activity, hypoglycemic activity, immuno boosting activity and cardio protective activity
Description : Prickly pear is a nutritious fruit belongs to Cactaceae family. It is also known as nopal, cactus
Article Details :
Prickly pear is a nutritious fruit belongs to Cactaceae family. It is also known as nopal, cactus pear fruit, gracemere-pear and westwood-pear. It has been traditionally used for numerous medicinal purposes.
General information regarding prickly pear
- It is extensively used in the diet of Mexican as well as Mexican-American culture
- The young plant is generally utilized for consumption whereas older plants cannot be consumed due to their toughness
- It is a juicy fruit
- It is sweet in taste
Nutritional composition
- It contains lesser amount of carbohydrate
- It contains dietary fibre as well
- It also contains lesser amount of fat. Oil extracted from its seed contains several healthy unsaturated fatty acids like oleic acid, linoleic acid, omega 3 fatty acid, omega 6 fatty acid but does not contain saturated fat, Trans fat and cholesterol
- It contains too some extent of protein as well
- It is loaded with several imperative vitamins like Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin B1, B2, B3, B6 and B9
- It also contains numerous essential trace elements such as calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, iron, copper and selenium
- It contains various imperative plant compounds like anthocyanin, rutin, phenolic acid, isorhamnetin derivatives, carotenoid etc, which exert various nutraceutical activities
Health benefits
Role on immunity
- It helps to improve the immunological responses of the body as it contains numerous immune boosting nutrients
- Its antioxidant activity is accountable for strengthening the defense mechanism of body by neutralizing free radicals
- Its Vitamin C component plays vital role in enhancing WBC production, which helps in killing and eliminating harmful microorganism from body thus decreases the susceptibility of developing infectious diseases
Role on digestive health
- It helps to improve overall digestive health
- It helps to increase the activity of digestive enzymes hence promotes digestion
- Its fibre component is responsible for promoting regularity. It is associated with stimulating bowel movement and also increases stool mass and softness as a result helps in easy defecation
- Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities are accountable for protecting the entire digestive tract from oxidative and inflammatory damages thus decreases the prevalence of ulcer, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome etc
- It helps to improve the health of stomach and also helps in soothing it
- It is also associated with enhancing peristalsis, which ultimately helps to improve colonic health and lessen the risk of developing diverticular diseases and colon cancer
Role on hepatic health
- Consumption of prickly pear or its juice is extremely useful for improving hepatic health as it has hepato protective activities
- It helps to protect the liver from free radical induced oxidative damages thus decreases the prevalence of hepatic disorders
- It also helps to promote the functionality of hepatic cells by preventing hepatic cell necrosis. Its fibre content is responsible for decreasing cholesterol concentration in body as a result inhibits fatty infiltration of hepatic cell
- It helps to lessen the prevalence of gall stone as well
Role on skeletal health
- Being a good source of calcium, consumption of prickly pear is thought to be extremely useful for maintaining a healthy skeletal system
- It helps in bone mineralization thus helps to increase bone mass as well as bone mineral density
- It helps to strengthen bones as well as teeth and significantly decreases the prevalence of bone and tooth disorders
Role on skin
- Its consumption or application of oil extracted from prickly pear seed is extremely helpful for improving skin health
- Its oil contains several moisturizing and hydrating fatty acids that help to nourish the skin and makes the skin smooth
- Its antioxidant activities are responsible for preventing ageing
- It also helps in improving skin brightness
- It is awfully effective for decreasing the prevalence of blemishes, dark circles, psoriasis, skin swelling due to infections and dermatitis
Role on hair
- Oil extracted from prickly pear contains several healthy fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, which play imperative role in nourishing the scalp as well as the hair by providing them essential nutrients and promotes hair growth
- It is also associated with making the hair glossy
- It helps to restore the hair shine as well
- Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities are accountable for providing relief from scalp conditions and prevents hair loss
