Since I was born and raised in the south western USA, then I have lived around native varieties of
prickly pear cactus. To sustain myself as a demonized mystic I even harvested hundreds of pounds of the cactus fruit, because the health industry recognizes it as an aide to diabetes. Since the fruit tends to be quite red, and it is an aide to the treatment of diabetes, then I believe that it might contain
Anthocyanin.
Opuntia ficus-indica is a species of cactus that has long been a domesticated crop plant important in agricultural economies throughout arid and semiarid parts of the world. It is thought to possibly be native to Mexico.[1] Some of the common English names for the plant and its fruit are Indian fig opuntia, barbary fig, cactus pear, spineless cactus, and prickly pear, although this last name has also been applied to other less common Opuntia species.
Uses
The coat of arms of Mexico depicts a Mexican golden eagle, perched upon an Opuntia cactus, devouring a rattlesnake.
The fruits of Opuntia ficus-indica as sold in Morocco.
The most commercially valuable use for Opuntia ficus-indica today is for the large, sweet fruits, called tunas. Areas with significant tuna-growing cultivation include Mexico, Malta, Spain, Sicily and the coasts of Southern Italy, Greece, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Israel, Chile, Brazil, Turkey, as well as in Eritrea and Ethiopia where the fruit is called beles (Ge'ez: በለስ).[4] In Sicily, where the prickly pear fruit is known as ficudinnia (the Italian name being fico d'India, meaning "indian fig"), the cactus grows wild and cultivated to heights of 12–16 feet (4–5 meters). In Namibia, O. ficus-indica is a common drought-resistant fodder plant.
The fruit contains vitamin C[6] and was one of the early cures for scurvy.[7] The high levels of Selenium in Opuntia are comparable to those found in Brassicaceae[11]
In the center of Sicily, in the Province of Enna, in a small village named Gagliano Castelferrato, a prickly pear-flavored liqueur is produced called "Ficodi", flavored somewhat like a medicinal/aperitif. In Malta, a liqueur called Bajtra (the Maltese name for prickly pear) is made from this fruit, which can be found growing wild in most every field. On the island of Saint Helena, the prickly pear also gives its name to locally distilled liqueur, Tungi Spirit.
Health benefits:
Consumer health
Some preliminary evidence shows that prickly pear cactus can decrease blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Research also suggests that prickly pear cactus extract may lessen the unpleasant effects of a hangover.
webmd
Prickly pear cactus is used for type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, alcohol hangover, colitis, diarrhea, and benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). It is also used to fight viral infections.
healthy eating
Antioxidants
A 2009 study published in the scientific journal, "Plant Foods for Human Nutrition," reported that the juice of prickly pears contains a number of antioxidant compounds, including flavonoids, polyphenols and betalains. Consuming foods high in these antioxidants regularly may help decrease your risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, eye disorders such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. Researchers at the University of Palermo in Italy found that the betalains contained in prickly pears appears to protect the endothelial cell walls of blood vessels from oxidative damage by free radicals.
OK, so no
Anthocyanin in
prickly pear cactus.
Gene Regulation & Molecular Biology
Betalains, the other red pigment
Roses are red and beets are red for completely different reasons. Virtually all flowering plants contain one of two mutually exclusive and unrelated red/purple pigment pathways, anthocyanins or betalains. The anthocyanin biosynthetic and regulatory network has been heavily studied and occurs in the vast majority of taxa including roses, Arabidopsis, and maize. Betalains on the other hand are restricted to certain families of a single order, the Caryophyllales, where they assume the roles of anthocyanin pigments in all biological contexts. The betalain families contain crop species including Beets, Spinach, Amaranthus, Quinoa, and Prickly Pear cactus.
While anthocyanins are based on phenylalanine, betalains derive from tyrosine. Only a single betalain biosynthetic gene/enzyme, and no regulators, have been reported to date. We have recently identified a novel cytochrome P450 that is absolutely required to make red betalain pigments. Without this P450, beets only make yellow betaxanthin pigments. This P450 locus corresponds to the beet R locus identified by Keller more than 75 years ago. In addition, we have identified a MYB-type transcription factor that activates the biosynthetic genes in the betalain network. Phylogenetic analysis of this MYB places it in the anthocyanin MYB clade indicating that is was co-opted to regulate betalains. We will present analysis of these genes using overexpression, Virus Induced Gene Silencing, and mutant complementation in beet, and expression of the betalain pathway in Arabidopsis.
