Chemical composition, antimicrobial, and antioxidant activities of Opuntia stricta (Haw.) Haw. mucilage collected in Sicily, Italy

Michela Di Napoli; Natale Badalamenti; Giusy Castagliuolo; Rosalia Merra; Mario Varcamonti; Anna Zanfardino; Maurizio Bruno; Francesco Sottile

doi:10.1080/14786419.2023.2272781

Chemical composition, antimicrobial, and antioxidant activities of Opuntia stricta (Haw.) Haw. mucilage collected in Sicily, Italy

Nat Prod Res. 2023 Nov 1:1-9. doi: 10.1080/14786419.2023.2272781. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Michela Di Napoli¹, Natale Badalamenti^{2

3}, Giusy Castagliuolo¹, Rosalia Merra², Mario Varcamonti¹, Anna Zanfardino¹, Maurizio Bruno^{2

4}, Francesco Sottile^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
² Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
³ NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, Italy.
⁴ Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca "Riutilizzo bio-based degli scarti da matrici agroalimentari" (RIVIVE), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
⁵ Department of Architecture, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.

PMID: 37909244
DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2023.2272781

Abstract

In this work the mucilage obtained from the cladodes of a not previously investigated accession of Opuntia stricta (Haw.) Haw. (syn. Opuntia dillenii (Ker-Gawl) Haw), collected in Sicily, was analysed by ¹³C-NMR. The yield of mucilage extracted from cladodes in aqueous medium was 2.55%. The monosaccharides identified, after acidic hydrolyses of the mucilage, were arabinose (36.48%), galactose (32.31%), xylose (15.33%), glucose (10.45%) and rhamnose (5.40%). The mucilage showed a sufficient antimicrobial activity and excellent antioxidant property.

Keywords: 13C-NMR; Cactaceae; Opuntia stricta; antimicrobial activity; antioxidant properties; mucilage.