The mucilage of Opuntia ficus-indica mill.

Study of carbohydrates present in the cladodes of Opuntia ficus-indica (fodder palm), according to age and season

“…Forni, Penci and Polesello (1994). However, some authors (ANDERSON; SANDS; STURGIS, 1925;KLAAS, 1929;PARIKH;JONES, 1965;AMIM et al, 1970) identified rhamnose in other varieties of Opuntia. This absence of rhamnose is explained by Habibi et al (2004), who studying the structural characteristics of pectic polysaccharides of the Opuntia fícus-indica prickly skin fruit could affirm that this is related to the wealth of the Opuntia in pectic polysaccharides.…”

“…Malainine et al (2003) found carbohydrates as the main constituent of the palm cladodes. Harlay (1902), Amim et al (1970) found neutral sugars such as: D-galactose and L-arabinose…”

Functional Components and Medicinal Properties of Cactus Products

“…In contrast, earlier studies about its chemical composition reported the mucilage as being a neutral polysaccharide made up of arabinose, galactose, rhamnose, and xylose (Amin et al 1970 ).…”

Prickly pear cladodes and fruits as a potential raw material for the bioindustries

“…Fresh cladodes have a high moisture content (92%), due to their crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) (Brulfert et al 1984) with stem tissues containing numerous mucilaginous cells that store large volumes of water (Amin et al 1970;Merin et al 1987). Fresh cladodes comprises 5.1% as carbohydrates, with lipids (0.2%), minerals (1.9%), and protein (0.8%).…”