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REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1566000
This article is part of the Research Topic Reviews in Ethnopharmacology: 2025 View all 7 articles
Extraction, purification, structural features, biological activities, and applications of polysaccharides from Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. (cactus): A review
Provisionally accepted- 1 Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China
- 2 Heilongjiang Nursing College, HarBin City, China
Cactus has attracted increasing attention from researchers due to its rich nutritional, edible, and medicinal value. Cactus contains abundant polysaccharides, polyphenols, vitamins, amino acids, minerals, and more. Among them, polysaccharides are considered as important bioactive components in cactus. In the past period, polysaccharides have been isolated from cactus through various methods and their structures have also been studied. Some in vivo and in vitro experimental results indicate that cactus polysaccharides have promoting wound healing, anti-inflammatory, immune regulation, anti-glycosylation, and antioxidant effects. This article reviews the research progress in the extraction, purification, structural characteristics, and biological activities of cactus polysaccharides in recent years. In addition, the relationship between the structure and activity of cactus polysaccharides was also discussed. This review provides important research basis and latest information for the in-depth development and application of cactus polysaccharides in multiple fields such as medicine and functional foods.
Keywords: Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) mill., Polysaccharides, Structural features, Biological activities, applications
Received: 24 Jan 2025; Accepted: 24 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Xing, Liu, Bao, Hu, Bi and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Meng Wang, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, 150040, Heilongjiang Province, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.