Effect of Opuntia ficus indica on Antioxidant Activity and Lipid Profile of Experimental Rats Ingested Thermally Oxidized Oil

Opuntia ficus indica largely presents in Algerian rural environment, is frequently used by the local population for its therapeutic virtues.This particular study was carried out on Wistar albino rats, which were divided into four individual groups namely I, II, III and IV. The rats in Group I served as the control, received a distilled water, Group II was received thermoxidized vegetable oil, while Group III and IV were received thermoxidized oil with 100 and 500 mg/kg body weight of Opuntia ficus indica aqueous extract added in each respectively. At the end of 22 days administration, blood samples were collected for the analysis of lipid profile. The result showed that TG was significantly increased (P<0.05) in all the test groups when compared with the control, The HDL was significantly (P<0.05) increased in all the test samples except GroupII, while LDL followed a reverse trend. The phytochemical studies showed the presence of phytoconstituents like alkaloids, flavonoids and phenols.