Prickly pear cactus fruit

As for anthocyanins, betalains are found in vacuoles and cytosols of plant cells. From the various natural sources of betalains, beetroot (Beta vulgaris) and prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus indica) are the only edible sources of these compounds. In the food industry, betalains are less commonly used as natural colorants from plant sources than anthocyanins and carotenoids, probably related to their more restricted distribution in nature. To date, red beetroot is the only betalain source exploited for use as a natural food coloring agent. The major betalain in red beetroot is betanin (or betanidin 5-0-P-glucoside). Prickly pear fruits contain mainly (purple-red) betanin and (yellow-orange) indicaxanthin and the color of these fruits is directly related to the betanin-to-indicaxanthin ratio (99 to 1, 1 to 8, and 2 to 1, respectively in white, yellow, and red fruits)." ... 

After ingestion of cactus pear fruit pulp, both betanin and indicaxanthin were found in human plasma (with AUCo i2 h values of 0.46 and 29.2 lunol/hr/mL, respectively), partly associated with LDL, and in urine (3 and 76%, respectively, of the ingested compounds)," indicating that indicaxanthin was better absorbed than betanin. The bioavailability of indicaxanthin from prickly pear fruit pulp was 20 times that of betanin, suggesting differences in the fates of the two classes of betalains (betacyanin and betaxanthins) in the human body. In rats, betanin appeared to be... 

Cactus pear, previously known as prickly pear, has been mainly studied for its green fleshed pads known as nopalitos. It originates from Mexico but is cultivated in Chile and Peru, mainly for cochineal production, and also in the U.S. (California and Texas), South Africa, India, Israel, and the Mediterranean, amounting to a total of 100,000 hectares under cultivation. The cactus pear fruit is a berry with many seeds and a mean weight of 160 g. Its fruit pulp covers a color range from deep purple to green. " ... 

Food-drug interactions Prickly pears Prickly pears or cactus fruit Opuntia, Cactaceae) may reduce blood glucose concentrations, especially when it is processed [65" ]. 

Opuntia (cactus fruit, prickly pear) and glipizide, 696 oseltamivir and sotalol, 305 oxcarbazepine and clarithromycin, 107, 409 oxcarbazepine and phen5ftoin, 109... 

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