The prickly pear, in Malta widely ignored as a fruit, has been found to be the raw material for an extract which counters stress and protects farmed fish against disease.

Set up in 1996, the Institute of Cellular Pharmacology Ltd (ICP), based at the Technopark in Mosta, and its French biotechnology partner, have reached a stage in development where various world-wide patents have been registered for the extract identified in prickly pears.

The end product is being sold to international firms in France, the UK, Spain, the US, Greece and Cyprus, where it is used in capsules for sale to people involved in strenuous sports, who need to restore strength to their body.

The extract is bound to give the lie to the folkloristic riddle on the prickly pear, which runs like this: Bil-pala u mhix furnara, bil-kuruna u mhix sultana. That freely translates as: having a shovel and she's no baker, having a crown and she's no queen.

It may mean that the prickly pear may yet turn out to be quite regal in properties, with its ability to help against stress in humans and disease in farmed fish.

The capsules, marketed under various names, including Preservation, Prepair, and Hangover Prevention Formula, have been used by tennis players, scuba divers and racing car drivers among other sports.

The extract is used also in endurance sports such as jogging, speed walking, skiing, mountain walking and motor sports, which all present extremes of heat.

The extract, drawn from the skin of the prickly pear, is a natural food and as such not prohibited by any sport body.

"This year, ICP will be sponsoring the Mitsubishi team who will be displaying the Preservation label in the gruelling Paris-Dakar Race," Charles Saliba, ICP managing director said in an interview.

Firms which buy the extract from ICP carry out their own rigorous tests on the product, as does the American Food and Drug Administration.

Mr Saliba contacted The Times to speak about the research carried out by ICP after this newspaper's article about prickly pears imported from Sicily to be sold here, and the widespread neglect of the home-grown prickly pear fruit, which annually goes to waste by the ton.

The research interest in the prickly pear came about quite by chance.

One day, Mr Saliba and his research partner, Gilles Gutierrez, were walking with friends down to Chadwick Lakes near Rabat when a truck drove by, crushing to pulp a quantity of prickly pears growing at the sides of the narrow road.

"This set us thinking about how the prickly pear withstands extreme temperatures and environment conditions.

"The prickly pear is one of the most adaptable plants in the world. Although the DNA in mammalian cells remains stable up to 43 degrees Celsius, in the prickly pear, the DNA can withstand temperatures of 80 degrees Celsius in the shade in desert conditions.

The DNA can be destroyed by heating, so the next theory was that the plant must have something capable of protecting the DNA from being denatured.

"Current research has indicated that there are molecules that generate the synthesis and release of heat shock proteins when an organism is exposed to stress. It is a natural defence mechanism.

"By taking this extract, it will take a person about 15 minutes to produce the same amount of heat shock proteins (HSP) that a person who does not take the extract would need two hours to produce.

"By taking the extract, the body will be capable of coping better, for a longer period of time, to the stress induced by environmental conditions such as dehydration, UV radiation, and rise in temperature. The feeling of fatigue following exposure to such stress will be minimal.

"Heat shock proteins will be depleted to a lesser extent because you will be exposed to a lesser aggressive factor.

"Persons taking the prickly pear extract would not feel any direct effect but they would notice a difference when they take the extract and when they do not.

"A typical case is where the capsules made from the extract are used as a hang over cure."

The extract is derived from the skins and not the fruit of the cactus because the skin is particularly rich in this molecule. The fruit is used for other applications. Several farmers are contracted with ICP to harvest the fruit.

The equipment used by the ICP is Swiss made, designed for the company's specific needs. The company uses hundreds of tons of prickly pears annually.

"Each of the products we sell has a known concentration for a known activity. We separate the crude extract into many different parts for different uses.

"The extract is tested on human cells through an in vitro culture raised in the company's lab to test for the presence of heat shock protein.

"The level of control is extremely intense because this is a highly technological product.

"We carry out research to identify whether there are any differences between one variety of prickly pear and another. Our main interests are early and late crops that could be richer in HSP-inducing molecules."

Strict checks on the level of contaminants in the soil, in the plant and in the fruit are important because since the company produces a million-fold concentrate, a contaminant, however slight, would end up with levels that are not acceptable for human or animal use after processing and concentration.

The extract is marketed under the trade mark TEX-OE because the laboratory in Lyons, owned by Dr Gutierrez, had carried out the initial research under the name Texinfine. TEX stands for Texinfine and OE for opuntia (the prickly pear) extract.

TEX-OE is used also in cosmetics. As a matter of fact, last year, ICP was awarded the Prix Pierre Velon by the Société Francaise de Cosmétologie for the use of TEX-OE as a skin anti-aging product.

"Our exports are in small batches such as one litre or 25 kilos. To get the same effect of one capsule of the extract, one would have to eat about six tons of prickly pears because it is extremely difficult for the human body to separate the extract from the cellulose in the plant.

"The skin is freeze dried containing one per cent of dry matter which, in practice, means that one hundred kilos of prickly pears would produce one kilo of raw material when freeze dried. "

Another application is in fish farms where fish are exposed to high stress levels. The product aids farmed fish to combat disease. The fish farming industry is showing great interest in the product in view of strict regulations on feeding because of the possible carry over to humans who consume farmed fish.

Clinical studies were carried out on aquaculture with professor Charles Agius at the department of biology of the University of Malta, as well as leading companies in the field. Studies were also carried out in Scotland, Norway and the US.

ICP are selling a product that has a very high added value. Next year, the export order is expected to be substantial.

The implications for the uses of this product are enormous when one takes into account, for instance, the amount of salmon farmed around the world.

"For ICP, which employs four employees specialised in biology, 'Small is beautiful' .

"When you have a small structure, you can move along fast when you find a new area of activity".

When TEX-OE was patented, it was cited as the number one patent registered in Europe for innovation, applicability and industrial application.

"The hardship in the first four years of research is beginning to pay off and hopefully will be converted to commercial rewards. This is the second commercial year for the company.

"The way forward for Malta is not mass industry. The country has extremely good human resources. ICP are proving that the country can succeed in this sector.

"Malta's greatest heritage consists of its human intellect and the natural environment.

"Malta can move ahead in the globalised world simply by taking care of the environment seriously and having more specialised workers," Mr Saliba said.