Algerian prickly pear Promising compounds that surprise scientists

Prickly pear succeeds in surviving and growing in extremely dry and hot environments, but in addition to this exceptional ability to withstand harsh conditions, much research has focused on its chemical compounds that may have medical applications.

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Recently, a research team from the Department of Agricultural Sciences at the Faculty of Natural and Life Sciences at El Oued University in Algeria succeeded in uncovering new secrets in this plant, showing that its aqueous extract possesses antioxidant activity and a moderate abiliinflammation.

The focus was on the aerial parts of the plant during the flowering stage (all parts of the plant that grow above the soil surface). After washing these samples and drying them in the shade, they were ground into a fine powder. Then, 50 grams of the powder were taken and mixed with half a liter of deionized water, which is water from which most of the dissolved ions have been removed. These are the electrically charged particles resulting from salts and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, and chloride. It is usually prepared by passing the water through special materials that remove these ions, and it is used in laboratories to reduce the effect of salts and minerals present in ordinary water on the results of experiments.

This mixture was then heated at 70 degrees Celsius for one hour with continuous stirring, and then left for 48 hours at room temperature, in the dark, stirring at intervals.

The aim of these steps was to help the water penetrate the plant tissues and extract the soluble compounds in it, and then allow more time for these compounds to transfer into the liquid.

After that, the researchers filtered the mixture to remove plant residues, and concentrated the extract using a rotary evaporator, a laboratory device used to remove liquids from chemical extracts, with the aim of concentrating them or separating the solvent from them, through evaporation under low pressure. It was then stored in dark containers at four degrees Celsius until the analyses were carried out.

The initial result was that the extraction yield was about 10.82% of the weight of the dry plant material, meaning that every 100 grams of dry plant material yielded about 10.82 grams of dry extract.