NATURAL HOME CURES · NOPAL SCIENCE
Threonine
& Nopal
An essential amino acid used in proteins, including the mucins that help form protective mucus.
Explore the scienceA connection with mucus.
Threonine is one of the building blocks your body uses to make proteins. These proteins help build and maintain muscle, skin and other tissues.(1)
Threonine is one of the nine essential amino acids. Your body cannot make it, so you need to get it from food.(2)
What Does Threonine Do?
A PROTEIN BUILDING BLOCK
One of nine essential amino acids
The body joins threonine with other amino acids to build many different proteins.
Threonine becomes part of proteins throughout the body. Some proteins help give tissues their structure; others work as enzymes, antibodies or transporters.(1)
Each protein contains amino acids arranged in a particular sequence. Threonine is one of the building materials used in those sequences.
Making and maintaining proteins requires many amino acids and other nutrients working together.
Threonine and Mucins
PROTEINS WITH ATTACHED SUGARS
Part of a protective layer
Mucins help give mucus its gel-like character. Threonine is one of their building blocks.
Threonine is common in the protein regions of mucins. These are large proteins with attached sugar chains. Mucins help form the mucus that coats surfaces such as the digestive tract.(4)
The mucus layer helps keep surfaces moist and protects the tissues beneath it. Studies of human intestinal mucins have identified threonine in their protein structure.(3)
These are normal biological roles. They do not establish that taking extra threonine or a Nopal product improves the digestive lining.
Where Does Threonine Come From?
Threonine occurs naturally in many familiar foods, including:
Meat and poultry
Fish
Eggs
Milk and dairy products
Beans, lentils and soy foods
Nuts and seeds
Whole grains
Leafy vegetables
Nopal cactus pads
The amount of threonine varies from one food to another. A varied diet provides threonine together with many other amino acids and nutrients used throughout the body.(5)
How Much Threonine Is in Nopal?
USDA FoodData Central · “Nopales, raw”
The USDA entry lists 0.040 grams of threonine per 100 grams of raw nopales, equal to 40 milligrams. This provides context for the amount in fresh cactus pads.(8)
Researchers studying pads of Opuntia ficus-indica have identified threonine among the amino acids in the cactus.(6)
Nopal also contains fiber, vitamins, minerals, pigments and other plant compounds.(6), (7)
These findings describe the plant material studied. They do not establish the threonine amount in a serving of our finished products.
From Our Farms to Your Bottle
Our Nopal capsule story begins on our mountain farms in Mexico, where Opuntia streptacantha grows at about 8,200 feet in rich volcanic soil. Sunlight, temperature, and rainfall shape the living cactus.
We stay involved from growing through harvest and preparation of the capsules. This growing environment is part of the story behind each amino acid discussed here.
Looking at the Whole Cactus
Threonine is one part of Nopal’s wider nutritional picture. Explore the other science articles to learn about the cactus’s fiber, vitamins, minerals and other plant compounds.
FROM CACTUS TO PRODUCT
Meet Our Nopal Cactus & Prickly Pear Family
Nopal cactus capsules, prickly pear drops, and Nopal cactus powder.
Explore Nopal Cactus →The research behind this articleSource References
- 01Source referencePhysiology, Proteins.View source
Full citation
LaPelusa A, Kaushik R. StatPearls. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Physiology, Proteins. - 02Source referenceThreonine requirement of young men determined by indicator amino acid oxidation with use of L-[1-13C]phenylalanine.View source
Full citation
Wilson DC, Rafii M, Ball RO, Pencharz PB. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2000;71(3):757–764. Threonine requirement of young men determined by indicator amino acid oxidation with use of L-[1-13C]phenylalanine. - 03Source referenceNeutral and acidic species of human intestinal mucin. Evidence for different core peptides.View source
Full citation
Wesley A, Mantle M, Man D, Qureshi R, Forstner G, Forstner J. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 1985;260(13):7955–7959. Neutral and acidic species of human intestinal mucin. Evidence for different core peptides. - 04Source referenceO-GalNAc Glycans.View source
Full citation
Essentials of Glycobiology. 4th edition. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; 2022. O-GalNAc Glycans. - 05Source referenceFoodData Central.View source
Full citation
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central. - 06Source referenceStudy of Nutritional Composition of Nopal (Opuntia ficus indica cv. Redonda) at Different Maturity Stages.View source
Full citation
Hernández-Urbiola MI, Contreras-Padilla M, Pérez-Torrero E, et al. The Open Nutrition Journal. 2010;4:11–16. Study of Nutritional Composition of Nopal (Opuntia ficus indica cv. Redonda) at Different Maturity Stages. - 07Source referenceNopal Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) as a Source of Bioactive Compounds for Nutrition, Health and Disease.View source
Full citation
El-Mostafa K, El Kharrassi Y, Badreddine A, et al. Molecules. 2014;19(9):14879–14901. Nopal Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) as a Source of Bioactive Compounds for Nutrition, Health and Disease. - 08USDA food composition referenceNopales, raw.View source
Full citation
U.S. Department of Agriculture. FoodData Central. “Nopales, raw.” FDC ID 168571; SR Legacy. Threonine: 0.040 g per 100 g of raw edible food, equivalent to 40 mg. General raw-food composition; not a finished-product assay.