• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.195-201
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• 2011

Opuntia humifusa contains high levels of antioxidants including vitamin C, flavonoids and polyphenols, which may provide beneficial effects such as hypolipidemic activity and the reduction of atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women. This study was conducted to determine if the intake of O. humifusa seeds powder (OHS) regulates lipid concentrations, glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), and glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (GPT) in the serum of ovariectomized rats. Sprague-Dawley female rats were randomly assigned to either a sham-operated group (Sham) or one of the following four ovariectomy (OVX) subgroups: OVX with vehicle (OVX), OVX with 100, 200, and 500 mg/kg/day OHS (OHS100, OHS200, OHS500). Daily oral administration of OHS was initiated one week after ovariectomy and continued for seven weeks. Upon completion of treatments, organs were weighed and GOT, GPT, total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels were determined enzymatically. No significant differences in feed intake and organ index were observed among the groups. Significant decreases in GPT, TC and LDL-C (p<0.05) were observed in all of the OHS groups (OHS100, 200 and 500), while no significant changes in HDL-C were observed. In addition, the OHS200 and OHS500 treatment groups exhibited a lower level of serum GOT compared to the OVX group. These results indicate that supplementation with O. humifusa seeds could induce favorable changes in serum lipoprotein and lipid profiles, which frequently worsen with inadequate estrogen availability.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.23 no.4 s.100
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• pp.443-451
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• 2007

In order to better understand the quality of Korean cactus, Opuntia humifusa, as the functional foodstuffs, it's seeds, stems and fruits were analyzed. In addition, we performed quality evaluation on cookies manufactured with cactus powder added. The results showed the soluble nitrogen-free component levels in the cactus to be very high. The highest component levels were crude fiber(48.75%) and crude fat(7.38%) in the seeds, crude ash(15.39%) in the stems, and moisture(11.26%) and crude protein(8.79%) in the fruits. The antioxidant activities of the cactus were evaluated based on peroxide values(POV), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances(TBARS value), and electron donating ability(EDA) using the DPPH method. The POVs for soybean oil containing a 0.05% concentrated water extract from each part of the cactus revealed a remarkable antioxidant effects on peroxidation as storage time increased. The TBA values were 63.65% in BHT, 60.67% in the stems, 57.31% in the fruits and 49.16% in the seeds. The EDAs were 30.26% in the stems, 25.89% in the fruits, and 25.65% in the seeds. The total polyphenol contents of the water soluble materials from the cactus were 3.14 g/100 g in the fruits, 2.93 g in the stems and 2.11 g in the seeds. For the cookies, as the amounts of fruit and stem powder increased, the spreadness was significantly lowered, but moisture content was increased compared to the control. The color degree of the cookies changed from dim to intense as more fruit powder was added, resulting from a decrease in the L- and b-values and a significantly increased a-value. With the addition of stem powder, the L- and a-values revealed no significant differences, while the b-value was lowered compared to the control as more stem powder added. For texture changes of the fruit cookies, there were significant differences in hardness, gumminess, cohesiveness, springiness and brittleness. The stem cookies, however, showed only differences in hardness, gumminess, and brittleness, and not in cohesiveness and springiness. Finally, an overall sensory preference was found with the 1% fruit powder and 3% stem powder additions.