Opuntia is a large genus of succulent shrubs characterized by unique attractive flowers known as prickly pears by virtue of their characteristic edible fruits. They are used as laxative, diuretic, antipyretic, and anti-inflammatory.
This study aims to authenticate eight different Opuntia species, Opuntia brasilliensis (Willd.) Haw (O1), Opuntia dillenii (ker Gawl.) Haw. (O2), Opuntia dejecta Salm-Dyck (O3), Opuntia ficus indica (L.) Mill. (O4), Opuntia tomentosa Salm-Dyck (O5), Opuntia phaecantha Engelm. (O6), Opuntia leucotricha DC. (O7), Opuntia microdasys (Lehm.) Pleiff. (O8), growing in Egypt by using random amplified polymorphic DNA technique. Accurate identification of the eight Opuntia species is an urgent need to maintain herbal formulations potency and peculiarity.
Similarity coefficients of 40.0 - 67.6% classified Opuntia species into two main groups, one of them contains two species and the other one contains six species. Consequently, this technique helps the identification of these Opuntia species showing great morphological similarity.