Biofilm is a complex microbial community highly resistant to antimicrobials. The formation of biofilms in biotic and abiotic surfaces is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. New alternatives for controlling infections have been proposed focusing on the therapeutic properties of medicinal plants and their antimicrobial effects. In the present study the ...

Prickly pear fruits constituted valuable foodstuff for humans and animals in arid and semi-arid regions. Two species of prickly pear from Tunisia, Opuntia ficus indica and Opuntia stricta, were investigated for fatty acid composition and physicochemical parameters of the seed oil. No significant difference in either physical or chemical parameters was found between the species. The main fatty a...

Isorhamnetin glycosides are representative compounds of Opuntia ficus-indica that possess different biological activities. There is slight information about the changes in bioaccessibility induced by the glycosylation pattern of flavonoids, particularly for isorhamnetin. In this study, the bioaccessibility and permeability of isorhamnetin glycosides extracted from O. ficus-indica were contraste...

The mechanical properties and structure of cactus Opuntia ficus-indica spines were characterised in bending and by means of x-ray diffraction. Using spruce wood cell walls for reference, the modulus of elasticity of Opuntia cactus spines was high in absolute terms, but comparable when specific values were considered, which can be explained by similarities in the cell wall structure of both mate...

the cactus moth, Cactoblastis cactorum (berg), is native to South america. Since its unintentional arrival to the united States in 1989 and to mexican islands in 2006, it has become a serious threat to the diversity of both wild and cultivated species of opuntia mill. in north america. the native ecological host range of C. cactorum has not been directly ascertained and host acceptance is uncle...

Prospective antimycotoxigenic action of wild Opuntia ficus-indica by-products | Ahmed Noah Badr, Karolina Gromadzka, Mohamed Gamal Shehata, Kinga Stuper-Szablewska, Drzewiecka, Adel Gabr Abdel-Razek Agricultural Journals

Identification and Differentiation between Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne., Opuntia ficus indica (L.) P. Miller, and Related Hoodia Species Using Microscopy and PCR Vaishali Joshi a; Natascha Techen a; Brian E. Scheffler b; Ikhlas A. Khan a a National Center for Natural Products, Research and Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy,...

Calcium oxalate crystallites occur very often in the plants tissues and their role is still poorly known. We report here the experimental protocol leading to the isolation of two forms of calcium oxalate crystallites differing in their hydration level in the parenchymal tissues of Opuntia ficus indica (Miller). Whereas the whewellite crystallites are habitual in all Opuntia species, the weddell...

Juices of edible fruits from Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller, commonly named prickly pears or Indian figs, were analysed for amino acids using an automated amino acid analyser run in the high-resolution physiological mode. Emphasis was put on the detection of free taurine (Tau), but Tau could be detected neither in different cultivars of prickly pears from Italy, South Africa and the Near East...

Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. cladodes contain a polysaccharide fraction that can retain water. The cladodes are used in Sicilian folk medicine as cicatrizant. We studied the healing activity of a base cream containing 15% lyophilized cladodes and of a commercial ointment on the wound produced on the backs of rats. The treatment was carried out for 3 and 5 days. After three days of treatment,...