New individuals in clonal populations arise through the recruitment of sexual or clonal offspring. The predominance of one type of regeneration over the other has been correlated with different selective environmental pressures. We compared the reproductive mode (sexual through seeds and vegetative through plantlets or detached cladodes) of Opuntia microdasys from three desert habitats of the C...

Background: Hundreds of previous studies have suggested the beneficial effects of nopal extract on human body. We investigated here whether nopal extract shows cytoprotective activity against viral infection, ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and chemotherapeutic drug treatment used in the dentistry. Materials and methods: The water and ethanol extract of Opuntia f icus-indica (WEO and EEO, respecti...

The cactus (Opuntia ficus indica) is an invasive plant in arid areas. realization of several researches on the physico-chemical properties its cladodes and fruits encourages their valuation a new source energy. In addition, Opuntia indica medicinal but also could be material such as plastic, leather, etc. our study, we aim to assess bioethanol potential different parts from Madagascar. For this...

The present work studied the protective effect of Opuntia ficus indica f. inermis fruit juice (OFIJ) against ethanol-induced renal dysfunction in rats. Chronic ethanol administration (3 g/kg b.w) during 12 weeks to Wistar rats, significantly (p < 0.01) increased the serum and kidney malondialdehyde (MDA), the serum contents of urea, creatinine, gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) and the urinary g...

The feasibility of ethanol production using an enzymatic hydrolysate of pretreated cladodes of Opuntia ficus-indica (prickly pear cactus) as carbohydrate feedstock was investigated, including a comprehensive chemical analysis of the cladode biomass and the effects of limited aeration on the fermentation profiles and sugar utilization. The low xylose and negligible mannose content of the cladode...

Hybridization between the introduced arborescent Opuntia ficus-indica and the native shrubby O. littoralis has led to populations, referred to as O. "occidentalis," which form thickets that can dominate hillsides of chaparral and that can survive fires. Because the thickets apparently develop via vegetative reproduction, O. "occidentalis" was hypothesized to have a greater ability than its pare...

The rates and extents of hydrolysis of alpha(S)- and beta-caseins from bovine, caprine, and ovine sodium caseinates produced by an enzymatic extract of the fruit of Opuntia ficus-indica, (L.) Miller were evaluated and compared with those produced by a commercial animal rennet. A mechanistic model based on a pseudo-first-order enzymatic reaction, in the presence of first-order deactivation of th...

the opuntia ficus indica mucilage was an abundant and a low cost product. in the presentpaper, it was tested as an eco-friendly flocculants for textile waste water treatment. its performance asflocculants in decolorization, cod removal and turbidity abatement was checked. the natural product wascharacterized using uv-vis and infra-red spectroscopy. the study of the effect, followed by an optimi...