Physicochemical, Nutritional, and Medicinal Properties of Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. and Its Main Agro-Industrial Use: A Review

The cactus, (L.) Mill. (OFI) belongs to the family, which contains about 130 genera and nearly 1600 species. This review aims to evaluate this plant from several perspectives, namely, botanic, physicochemical, nutritional, and medicinal properties, as well as agro-industrial use. The botanical aspec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPlants (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 7; p. 1512
Main Authors Martins, Mariana, Ribeiro, Maria H, Almeida, Cristina M M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI AG 30.03.2023
MDPI
Subjects
Acidification
Adaptation
agro-industrial applications
Cactus
Carbon dioxide
Carotenoids
Cosmetics
Dietary minerals
Ecological adaptation
Environmental conditions
Flowers & plants
food composition
Fruits
Genetic transformation
Genetic variability
Geographical distribution
Industrial applications
Irrigation
Medicinal plants
medicinal properties
Metabolism
Morphology
Nutrients
Opuntia ficus-indica
Physical characteristics
Polyploidy
prickly pear
Rain
Review
Seeds
Shelf life
Taxonomy
agro-industrial applications
prickly pear
medicinal properties
Opuntia ficus-indica
food composition
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Summary:The cactus, (L.) Mill. (OFI) belongs to the family, which contains about 130 genera and nearly 1600 species. This review aims to evaluate this plant from several perspectives, namely, botanic, physicochemical, nutritional, and medicinal properties, as well as agro-industrial use. The botanical aspects and morphological characteristics of OFI enable genetic variability, ecological adaptation, and broad geographic distribution. Due to its physicochemical and nutritional composition, it has several medicinal properties appropriate (or suitable) for several industries, such as pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetics. Its fruit, the prickly pear (PP), has potential agro-industrial expansion through the application of different conservation and transformation methods, making it possible to obtain a variety of products. The PP is a source of several nutrients and is an effective system to produce varied foods, which have several advantages from a nutritional, sensory, economic, and shelf-life point of view.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
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ObjectType-Review-1
ISSN:2223-7747
2223-7747
DOI:10.3390/plants12071512