Opuntia ficus-indica, commonly referred to as prickly pear, belongs to the family Cactaceae.
It is used as both for food and medicine in different countries throughout the world. It contains
diverse bioactive compounds which make this plant to withstand extreme drought conditions
in relatively poor soil. The present review is aimed at the morphological characters of Opuntia
ficus-indica with its food and medicinal values.
Medicinal food play an important role in providing nutrition and secondary metabolites. They are important nutraceutical but most of such plants are unexplored. Opuntia ficus-indica, an unexplored plant having food and medicinal values. Hence, there is need of biochemical and pharmacological analysis for proper utilization of this medicinal food plant.