A Maltese owned company which has been researching the properties of the prickly pear plant since 1996 has ended with an extract which it is selling abroad to relieve stress.

The Institute of Cellular Pharmacology Ltd, based at the Mosta Technopark, and its French partner, Gilles Gutierrez, have discovered properties in the skin of the prickly pear fruit that help humans regain their strength after strenuous activities and aid farmed fish to combat disease.

ICP freeze dries prickly pear skins and from them draws an extract that is marketed as TEX-OE^TM. The extract, a natural food, is exported and turned into capsules used by persons who participate in strenuous sports including car racing, scuba diving and mountain walking.

Companies operating from France, the UK, Spain and the US, among others, are marketing them.

"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," ICP managing director Charles Saliba said.

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

Mr Saliba said: "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."

(from Times of Malta)