Évaluation comparative des activités biologiques des huiles végétales et essentielles d’Opuntia ficus indica (Cactaceae)

Abstract

In recent years, research has focused on natural alternatives to synthetic molecules. Plant extract shave garnered increasing interest due to their multi functionality and low toxicity. Opuntia ficus-indica (Ofi), commonly known as « prickly pear »,is a Cactaceae species native to Central America. It is characterized by remarkable adaptation to arid and semi-arid climates, such asin Algeria, and represents an underutilized resource: its seeds, often considered waste, contain a vegetable oil rich in bioactive compounds, while the aerial parts can yield an essential oil with volatile properties. This study presents a comparative analysis between the vegetable oil (VO) extracted from the seeds and a commercial essential oil (EO) from Opuntia ficus indica cladodes, targeting three key biological activities : antioxidant and antimicrobial. The obtained results show that OFI-based vegetable oils possess radical-scavenging activity, degrading DPPH with an IC50 of 2.7736 mg/mL, compared to an IC50 of 4.10 mg/mL for Ofi essential oils. The evaluation of antibacterial and antifungal activity on the tested microbial strains reveals that fixed oils exhibit strong activity, unlike essential oils, which show only weak activity against the bacterial strain Klebsiella pneumoniae at a concentration of 300 mg/mL. In vitro anti-inflammatory activity of Opuntia ficus-indica essential and vegetable oils was evaluated using two methods: heat-induced membrane stabilization and hemolysis, with diclofenac serving as the reference anti-inflammatory agent. At a concentration of 100 mg/mL, the vegetable oil exhibited 69% inhibition in the membrane stabilization assay, compared to 50% for the essential oil and 89% for diclofenac. In the hemolysis assay, the inhibition rates were 41%, 31%, and 71%, respectively. These results indicate that both oils possess moderate anti-inflammatory activity, with the vegetable oil demonstrating overall greater efficacy.