The consumption of fresh nopal cactus juice is widely popular among health-conscious consumers in Mexico. The juice is prepared from fresh cladodes that have only been rinsed with tap water and are not subjected to a pasteurization or terminal bacter...
Recent green manufacturing demands have boosted the development of new biodegradable lubricants to replace petroleum-based lubricants. In this regard, water-based lubricants have been at the vanguard of recent research for a wide range of industrial...
Nopal (Opuntia ficus indica) belonging to the Cactacea family has many nutritional benefits attributed to a wide variety of phenolic and flavonoid compounds. Coumaric acid (COA), ferulic acid (FLA), protocatechuic acid (PRA), and gallic acid (GAA) ar...
Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) based on organic materials can harvest green energy to convert it into electrical energy. These nanogenerators could be used for Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, substituting solid-state chemical batteries that h...
Alkaline soils with low buffering capacity are susceptible to amendments such as biochar or biofertilizers, which could drastically alter their pH. For that, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a low biochar and biofertilizer addition t...
Oyster mushroom (Pleurotusostreatus), nopal (Opuntia ficus-indica) and amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) are pre-Hispanic foods widely consumed in Mexico. However, there are no standard products developed with these ingredientsas functional cookies. This st...
Edible films prepared from biological materials are being massively used. This study aimed to prepare edible films from native potato starch of the Allcca sipas variety (Solanum tuberosum subsp. Andigena), nopal mucilage (Opuntia ficus indica), and g...
This study aimed to obtain a third-generation snack from native rice starch (NS), rice starch modified by extrusion (MS), nopal flour (NF) and xanthan gum (XG). These raw materials were characterized by proximal analysis, pH, particle size distributi...
The performance of biopolymer films depends on both composition and formation conditions. This study evaluated films containing constant amounts of Nopal-Opuntia spp. mucilage, glycerol, and vinegar using a 16-run mixture–process design with fo...
The nopal cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) releases a substance through its mucilage, which comes from the degradation of pectic substances and chlorophyll. Combined in a polyvinyl alcohol matrix, this substance can be used as a recording medium. The re...
Opuntia Ficus-indica, or nopal, is traditionally used for its medicinal properties in Mexico. This study aims to decellularize and characterize nopal (Opuntia Ficus-indica) scaffolds, assess their degradation and the proliferation of hDPSC, and deter...
Nopal is a potential source of mucilage that can be used in different food applications. One of its potential use is the development of films and coatings where it can act as a packaging material but also as a source of bioactive compounds. Therefore...
Nopal (Opuntia) is a resource that is discarded after pruning complete cladodes. For this reason, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the combined use of organic matter (nopal) and goat manure on changes in soil characteristics an...
Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the potential of lightweight concrete mixtures incorporating sustainable materials, such as nopal mucilage and aloe vera, to enhance thermal and structural performance while promoting eco-friendly construction...
Obesity is a multifactorial disease resulting in excessive accumulation of fat. Worldwide, obesity is an important public health problem, affecting a large proportion of the world population. The tender cactus Opuntia ficus-indica, commonly known in...
Currently, natural materials represent a sustainable option for the manufacture of biopolymers with numerous industrial applications and characteristics comparable with synthetic materials. Nopal mucilage (NM) is an excellent natural resource for the...
This study investigated the effect of brief mechanical homogenization using a household blender on the properties of nopal mucilage and its performance in removing potentially toxic elements (PTEs), specifically Pb, Ni, As, Cd, and Zn, from a real cy...
The presence of pesticide residues in vegetable and fruit products, as a consequence of inappropriate application in some cases, constitutes a risk to the health of the exposed population. In Mexico, the official norm, NOM-003-STPS-1999, only allows...
Environmental humidity is a determining factor in the degradation of concrete structures, particularly in the corrosion process of reinforcement bars. This study analyzed four concrete mixtures with different mucilage contents replacing mixing water:...
Opuntia ficus-indica, commonly referred to as prickly pear or nopal cactus, is a dicotyledonous angiosperm plant. It belongs to the Cactaceae family and is characterized by its remarkable adaptation to arid and semi-arid climates in tropical and subt...
The prickly pear is a crop of socioeconomic relevance in arid regions, and its productivity and chemical composition depend on water availability. The effect of irrigation on the crop’s biochemical quality was evaluated. Cladodes of cultivars:...
Nopal cladode mucilage is a product of great importance in fodder, agri-food, industry, and health areas. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of three soil moisture contents on some physiological and chemical variables associated with the mucilag...
Diet containing Mexican ancestral foods such as cocoa, nopal, avocado, and common bean have been individually reported to have beneficial effects on obesity and comorbidities. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis on the effect of Mexican an...
Various dried (by-)products from the Tunisian O. ficus-indica were elucidated for their proximate composition, fatty acid (FA) composition, inorganic elements, sugars, and polyphenols. Nopal and prickly pear peel and seeds were abundant in fiber (res...
The plants of the Opuntia genus mainly grow in arid and semi-arid climates. Although the highest variety of wild species is found in Mexico, Opuntia spp. is widely distributed throughout the world. Extracts of these cacti have been described as impor...
The avocado fruit is an agro-industrial product with high export demand in Peru due to its sensory and nutritional qualities, which can be affected during storage. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of the application of a coating formulated with...
Nopal is a plant from Mexico. This plant can grow under extreme conditions, and it is also an ancestral crop that helped to establish the Mexican civilization. Prickly pear (cactus fruit) shows a great variability in its morphology; however, there ar...
Dry fibers coming from garden waste, originating from Opuntia ficus indica, were introduced in amounts of either 8 or 16 wt % into a self-produced thermoplastic starch (TPS) based on potato starch and glycerol. Thermal (differential scanning calorime...
Mucilage extracted from cactus pear cladodes is a hydrocolloid gum. It is a novel, natural, low-kilojoule, cost-effective texture-modifying ingredient in functional food products. Yet, the cultivar with the most optimal nutrient content and the prefe...
Opuntia joconostle is a semi-wild cactus cultivated for its fruit. However, the cladodes are often discarded, wasting the potentially useful mucilage in them. The mucilage is composed primarily of heteropolysaccharides, characterized by their molar m...
The technology for reproducing orchids in vitro has had to evolve due to the demand for these plants and the high cost of the biotechnology used due to the agar, the gelling agent. Consequently, research has tended to search for natural substitutes f...
The dry, powdered cladodes of Opuntia ficus-indica are often-used in over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical formulations. Gentle drying techniques, such as lyophilization and vacuum drying are compared with convection drying for the cladodes and also...
The prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica L.) is an emblematic crop for Mexico’s economy, gastronomy, and culture. Microbial communities play an important role in the health, development, and productivity of crops. This study used 16S rRNA...
Opuntia ficus-indica (cactus pear) emerged as a promising crop for sustainable bioenergy production on marginal agricultural land, mitigating competition with food crops and lowering the risk of other indirect land use changes. In this study, the bio...
Exposure to endotoxins (lipopolysaccharides, LPS) may lead to a potent inflammatory cytokine response and a severe impairment of metabolism, causing tissue injury. The protective effect provided by cactus seed oil (CSO), from Opuntia ficus-indica, wa...
The consumption of organic products has increased in recent years. One of the most important products in Mexico is nopal. Nopal’s content and properties make the formulation of edible films possible. In this study, we aimed to develop and chara...
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a serious health problem, and recent evidence indicates that gut microbiota plays a key role in its development. It is known that 2-oleoyl glycerol (2-OG) produced by the gut microbi...
The genus Opuntia spp. includes plants capable of growing in arid, temperate and tropical climates. The vast majority of wild species grow in Mexico, but O. ficus-indica (prickly pear or nopal) is cultivated around the world and it is one of the most...
Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. is the Cactaceae plant with the greatest economic relevance in the world. It can be used for medicinal purposes, animal nutrition, production of biofuels and phytoremediation of soils. Due to its high content of bioact...
Currently, Mexico is facing an energy transition, therefore updated policy regulations pertaining to the sustainable use of biomass are needed. In particular, policy that favors the sustainable use of biomass to produce energy and bioproducts to priv...
Currently, emerging alimentary alternatives are growing, leading to the consumption of natural products including bio, fermented, and traditional foods. The studies over functional properties of food matrices and their derived compounds have resulted...
The nopal cactus, a plant from the Cactaceae family, holds significant economic and nutritional value for Mexico. This study aimed to enhance the genetic diversity and morphological traits of Opuntia velutina, a species cultivated as a vegetable nopa...
Organic agriculture is considered an alternative to sustainably preserve soil fertility. For 10 years, ongoing management with organic contributions was carried out in calcareous soil to support or increase fertility by applying 4 t ha−1 of sol...
The present work reports the synthesis and the physicochemical characterization of biochar from the organic wastes of nopal (Opuntia Leucotricha), coffee grounds (Coffea arabica) and Ataulfo mango seeds (Mangifera indica) as alternative electrocataly...
In this work, we report a non-destructive and non-contacting ultrasound system with a novel air-coupled transducer to continuously monitor the drying process of prickly pear (nopal) pads in a lab environment. Compared with conventional imaging and sp...
In the present work, electrospun membranes of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) nanofibers were manufactured using extracts and phenolic fractions of Dysphania ambrosioides (epazote), Opuntia ficus-indica (nopal), and Tradescantia pallida (chicken grass). T...
In the present study, biological hydroxyapatite (HA) was obtained from bovine bones through a thermal process. A total of 0% and 1% of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) synthesized from Opuntia ficus (nopal) were added to the biological hydroxyapatite co...
In a broad project designed to examine uranium transport by surface water from Sierra Peña Blanca to Laguna del Cuervo in the Chihuahuan Desert, sediments from intermittent streams and the lagoon have been extracted and studied. Two samples we...
Sustainable processing from native vegetation such as agave, nopal and aloe, is mainly centered on the components of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose, defined generally as lignocellulosic. Cytotoxicity of lignocellulosic biopolymer membranes (LBM...
In order to define chain strategies for a backyard agricultural production system, this study identified agricultural products produced by high development priority communities with indigenous presence located in the Chontla and Tempoal municipalitie...
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