Secondary Metabolites of Edible Cacti (Cactaceae) from the South American Andes

*Frank L. Romero-Orejon, Ana María Muñoz, Luciana de la Fuente-Carmelino, Diana Jimenez-Champi, Eliana Contreras-López, Ivan Best, Luís Aguilar and Fernando Ramos-Escudero*

#### **Abstract**

The South American Andes hide countless cacti and are part of valuable Andean biodiversity. Within this large family of Cactaceae are edible cacti that are highly valued for their medicinal properties and used as edible fruits. In this review, we will make a description of the overall chemical composition, main phytochemicals found in some edible cacti of the Andean region such as sanky (*Corryocactus brevistylus*), pitahaya (*Hylocereus monacanthus*, *Hylocereus megalanthus*) and tuna or prickly pear (*Opuntia ficus-indica*). In addition, we will include its medicinal and therapeutic properties and its commercial applications and uses as a natural colorant.

**Keywords:** edible cacti, Andean region, phytochemicals, healthy properties, commercial applications

### **1. Introduction**

Cactaceae are a large family of plants that prosperous in desert and semidesert areas. These plants have been used by ancient civilizations for the treatment and cure of diseases [1]. In addition, they have been used as fodder (dairy cows) [2], medicinal (nutritional qualities and health implications) [3, 4], fruits and vegetables (prickly pear "tuna", and dragon fruit "pitahaya") [5–7] processed products (jams, syrups, concentrated juices, candies, wine, natural colorants, and others) [8, 9]. Cactaceae have been shown to provide significant health benefits because of their dietary fiber, flavonoids, hydroxycinnamic acids, betalains, carotenoids, terpenes, and tannins contents, that show health benefits such as anti-microbial and anti-parasitic, antiproliferative and cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory properties and inhibition of enzymes involved in carbohydrate catabolism (α-glucosidase and α-amylase) [10, 11].

Many of the native food fruits that grow in the Andean and Amazonian regions have generated much interest today due to the wide range of nutrients and bioactive compounds they possess. Among edible fruits, we can find Cherimoya (*Annona cherimola* Mill), lucuma (*Pouteria lucuma* (Ruiz & Pav.) Kuntze), goldenberry or cape gooseberry (*Physalis peruviana* L.), saúco (*Sambucus peruviana* H.B.K.), pepino (*Solanum muricatum* Aiton), soursop (*Annona muricata* Linnaeus), asaí or açaí (*Euterpe oleracea* Martius), camu-camu (*Myrciaria dubia* (H.B.K.) McVaugh), Inca peanut or sacha inchi (*Plukenetia volubilis* Linnaeus), sachatomate (*Solanum betaceum* (Cavanilles) Sendtner), guinda (*Prunus serotina*), granadilla (*Passiflora ligularis*), tumbo serrano or banana passion fruit (*Passiflora tripartite* var. mollissima), tuna or prickly pear (*Opuntia ficus-indica*), sanky (*Corryocactus brevistylus*), and pitahaya (*Hylocereus monacanthus, Hylocereus megalanthus*) [12–15].

The objective of this review is to compile the general chemical composition and bioactive phytochemicals of pitahaya, tuna or prickly pear and sanky, as well as the commercial applications. The aim of this paper is also to generate research interest in the valorization of edible cacti (Cactaceae) from the South American Andes and its by-products.
