Opuntia ficus-indica is the economically important cactus species belonging to the Cactaceae family. Its importance arises from its nutritional value and various biological activities such as antioxidant, anticancer and antimicrobial activities. This study attempts to characterize the metabolic profile of three O. ficus cultivars having different colors, i.e., red ‘Rose’, greenish white ‘Bianca’ and yellow-orange represented by peels and pulp tissues using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS). A total of 45 metabolites were identified mainly flavonoids: isorhamnetin conjugates and phenolic acids, whereas betaxanthins and coumarins were present at lower levels. Principle component analysis and orthogonal projection discriminant analysis showed that dihydroxy psoralen-O-hexoside and glycosidic conjugates of ferulic acid were the most discriminatory metabolites among the peels and pulps within the different cultivars. On the other hand, the level of flavonoids was comparable among the cultivars. The antioxidant activity of peels and pulps extracts were further measured using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) assays. ‘‘Rose’’ cultivar peel rich in dihydroxy psoralen-O-hexoside showed the highest antioxidant activity in both assays. This suggested that coumarins and flavonoids mediated high antioxidant activity of O. ficus-indica fruits although present at low levels.

榕属印度仙人掌是属于仙人掌科的经济上重要的仙人掌物种。它的重要性来自其营养价值和各种生物活性，例如抗氧化剂，抗癌和抗菌活性。这项研究试图表征三种不同颜色的O. ficus品种的代谢特性，即红色“玫瑰”，绿色白色“比安卡”和橙黄色，由果皮和果肉组织代表，使用超高效液相色谱与高分辨率飞行时间质谱法（UPLC-QTOF-MS）结合使用。总共鉴定出45种代谢物，主要为类黄酮：异鼠李素结合物和酚酸，而虾青素和香豆素含量较低。主成分分析和正交投影判别分析表明，二羟基补骨脂素-O-在不同品种的果皮和果肉中，阿魏酸的己糖苷和糖苷共轭物是最具区分性的代谢产物。另一方面，各品种之间的类黄酮含量相当。果皮和果肉提取物的抗氧化活性进一步使用2,2-二苯基-1-吡啶并肼和2,2'-叠氮基双（3-乙基苯并噻唑啉-6-磺酸）测定法进行测定。在两种试验中，富含二羟基补骨脂素-O-己糖苷的“玫瑰”品种果皮显示出最高的抗氧化活性。这表明香豆素和类黄酮虽然含量低，但介导了印度榕果的高抗氧化活性。