Cactus Fruit

Cactus fruit usually means the prickly pear, the sweet, colorful fruit of Opuntia cactuses, which is eaten in Mexico and many other countries. It is also called a tuna or Indian fig, and the most widely eaten kind comes from the Indian fig opuntia, Opuntia ficus-indica.

What Is a Prickly Pear?

Prickly pears are egg-shaped fruits about 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches) long that grow along the edges of a cactus’s flat pads. When ripe they may be green, yellow, orange, red or deep purple. Inside is juicy, sweet flesh full of small, hard seeds, with a flavor that people compare to watermelon, berries or bubblegum.

The fruit looks smooth and friendly, but it is covered in little tufts of tiny hair-like spines. These need to be removed carefully before eating, as you will see below.

History of the Name

The genus name Opuntia comes from Opus (or Opous), a town in ancient Greece. The Greek writer Theophrastus described an edible plant growing there that could grow new plants from its leaves. Prickly pears are actually from the Americas, so the name was later borrowed for them.

Prickly pears have a famous story in Australia. The first European settlers brought them in 1788, hoping to farm cochineal, tiny insects that live on the cactus and are used to make red dye. The cactus was later planted widely in gardens and as hedges. It spread so fast that by the 1920s it covered millions of hectares of farmland. Scientists finally brought it under control with a South American moth, Cactoblastis cactorum, whose caterpillars eat the cactus. It is one of the most successful examples of biological pest control.

What Does the Plant Look Like?

Prickly-Pear – Photo by: Jason Hollinger

Prickly pear cactuses grow from flat, rounded pads called cladodes, which are actually swollen stems. The pads store water and do the work that leaves do in other plants. Young pads, called nopales, are cooked and eaten as a vegetable in Mexico.

Most prickly pears have two kinds of spines: large, stiff spines, and tiny barbed bristles called glochids. Glochids grow in little clusters, detach at the lightest touch and stick in skin, where they are very irritating and hard to see. Many species grow in dense, sprawling clumps, while some grow into tree-like shapes.

Where Do Prickly Pears Grow?

Opuntia cactuses are native to the Americas, from Canada to Argentina. They are especially common in Mexico, the southwestern United States and the Caribbean. One species, the eastern prickly pear, grows on sand dunes and dry hills along the US East Coast, and even in a few places in southern Ontario in Canada.

The Galapagos Islands have six species of Opuntia found nowhere else, some of which grow into tall trees. They are an important food for the islands’ land iguanas and giant tortoises.

Land Iguana Eating Prickly Pear

People have also planted prickly pears in dry regions all over the world, including the Mediterranean, Africa and Australia, for fruit, animal feed and hedges. In some of these places they have become invasive.

Growing Prickly Pear

• Sun: Plant in full sun with plenty of space, leaving about 1 meter (3 feet) between plants.
• Soil: Prickly pears cope with poor, sandy or rocky soil but must have good drainage. In pots, use a cactus mix with extra grit and make sure there are drainage holes.
• Water: Water only when the soil has dried out completely, perhaps every couple of weeks in summer and hardly at all in winter. Soggy soil causes root rot.
• Temperature: Most edible prickly pears like warm weather, though some species, such as the eastern prickly pear, survive freezing winters.
• New plants: The easiest way to grow more is from a pad. Cut one off, let the cut end dry for a week or so, then plant it upright in dry, sandy soil.

Pests

Prickly pears have few disease problems as long as their soil is not kept wet. Sap-sucking insects such as mealybugs and cochineal scale sometimes appear as white, fluffy patches. They can be washed off with a strong jet of water or treated with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil.

How to Eat a Prickly Pear

Never pick or hold a prickly pear with bare hands. Here is a safe way to prepare one, ideally with an adult’s help:

• Use kitchen tongs to pick the fruit. Ripe fruits are deeply colored and come off the pad with a gentle twist. Many shops sell them with the spines already removed.
• Remove the glochids by scrubbing the fruit under running water with a vegetable brush while holding it with tongs, or by carefully singeing them off over a flame.
• Put the fruit on a cutting board, hold it with a fork, and slice off both ends.
• Make a shallow cut along the length of the skin and peel it back to reveal the flesh.
• Eat the flesh with the seeds, or press it through a sieve to make juice.

Uses and Nutrition

Prickly pears can be eaten fresh, added to fruit salads and smoothies, or made into juice, jam, jelly, candy and syrups. In the British Virgin Islands they are traditionally used to flavor a Christmas drink. The fruit is a good source of fiber, vitamin C, magnesium and potassium.

Prickly pear fruit and pads have been traditionally used in Mexico and elsewhere for stomach problems and other complaints. Scientists are studying whether they may help with things like blood sugar and cholesterol, but more research is needed. Prickly pear should be enjoyed as a food, not used to treat any illness without a doctor’s advice.

Side Effects

Prickly pear is safe for most people when eaten as a normal food. Eating a lot at once can cause an upset stomach, bloating or diarrhea, and swallowing very large amounts of the hard seeds can cause constipation. Because prickly pear may lower blood sugar, people with diabetes, people who are pregnant or breastfeeding, and anyone due to have surgery should check with a doctor before eating large amounts or taking prickly pear supplements. Learn more about the plant itself on our prickly pear cactus page.