by Clare Finlator – Healing Diets student

Prickly pear is a member of the cactus family, known in Mexico as Nopal Cactus. Both the fruit, and the prickly pads (botanically known as cladodes) are edible and provide many nutritional benefits. Here I will focus on the species Opuntia ficus indica, which is the species that grows near where I live, and that is most cultivated for its fruits and pads.

I was first introduced to eating Nopal on a trip to Mexico, where it has been used as a food for many generations, the pads – known as nopalitos – can be found fresh in markets, cooked as a vegetarian filling for tacos, or as a side dish vegetable. The fruits, known in Mexico as ‘tuna’ are eaten fresh or turned into a juice. I enjoyed it and recognised that it was a really healthy food. So later when I arrived in Portugal and found it growing here I included it in my diet.

Growing Conditions

Prickly Pear thrives in warm and dry areas, and will grow in poor soils. It has been promoted as a new crop for young farmers here in the south of Portugal, where it also commonly grows on the edge of villages and fields.

It is a very useful plant to use in permaculture systems and reforestation projects, something we are experimenting with here. The pads can offer shade to young seedlings, protecting them from the strong afternoon sun, and as they grow bigger can be used for ‘chop and drop’ mulching that not only offers nutrition and shade to the soil, but also their high water content. The plant has enormous potential as a highly resilient ally in the vast areas of southern Europe that are becoming increasing arid.

Uses

In addition to the fruit and the cladodes being used for food, the seeds are nutritious too and can be pressed into an oil or dried and made into a flour. The plant is also used for animal fodder, in cosmetics, for medicinal uses and even to make vegetable leather.

In many Native American cultures Opuntia cactus was recognised as a very useful medicinal plant both for ingesting, but also for use topically for wound and burn healing.

Nutrition

Water

Prickly Pear pads are 85% highly structured water, and are an excellent food for hydration. They contain ‘hydrophilic polysaccharides’ which absorb and retain water.

Chlorophyll

The pads are high in chlorophyll, offering cleansing, alkalinising, antiinflammatory and antioxidant benefits, It also helps maintain a healthy immune systems and can support the health of the skin.

Vitamins

The pads are very high in vitamin A and also contains vitamins E, C, K, and B2.
The fruit is a good source of Vitamin C. The highest vitamin C is found in the red-skinned fruits. The highest carotenoid content in yellow-skinned fruits.

Minerals

The plant is very high in calcium and other alkaline minerals.

Fruits contains calcium, potassium, sodium and magnesium.

Pads contain potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium.

Amino Acids – Protein

Fruit contains taurine, proline and glutamine. Taurine can help prevent against fatty liver, and is anti-inflammatory.

Pads are a good source of amino acids and are 11% protein.

Seeds contain glutamine and arginine.

Fatty Acids

The fruit, peel and seed contain both Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as oleic, linoleic and palmitic acids.

Soluble Fibre and Pectin

Support healthy digestion and elimination. The mucilage found in the pads is soothing and healing for the digestive tract.

Antioxidants

Phenolic acids

Pads are particularly high in Quercetin and Eucomic acid, which has shown anti-aging properties. Pads and Fruits contain Kaemferol, Luteolin and Isorhamnetin. Kaemferol boosts endorphins and has an anti-depressant effect.

The flowers and fruit peels contain the highest amount of phenolic acids compared to the pads and fruits.

Betalains

These compounds which are also contained in beetroot, have a very high antioxidant activity. Flavanoids such as Rutin and Opuntiol

Studies have shown that the antioxidants in Prickly Pear lower cholesterol are protective against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and cancer especially prostate and colon cancer. The anti-cancer properties are most concentrated in the seeds and fruit peels.

Cactus fruit extract is also used as an anti-viral.

Harvesting

Harvesting of fruits and pads is best done in the morning or early afternoon as the acid content is lower and the taste tends to be better.

Harvesting must be done with care, due to the sharp thorns and fine barbs known as glochids which can easily get stuck in the skin. It is usually recommended to use gloves and tongs.

Pads

Choose a young pad. Older pads can be used but need to be peeled to remove tough fibres. The thorns can be scraped off the pads with a knife, and so can the glochids if you look really carefully. It is easy to miss a few though, so be careful when handling.

Fruits

The fruits can be twisted off using tongs and put in a bucket for transportation. You can then burn of the glochids with a flame before peeling. I also just cut it in half without touching it (using a knife and fork) and then scoop out the flesh with a spoon. However there is a small chance that a glochid will get dislodged into the flesh whilst cutting the fruit. You can also pull out the glochids with tweezers.

Rinse both pads and fruits under running water after removing the glochids to clean them and wash away any dislodged glochids.

Recipes

The pads have a slightly acidic mild cucumber-like flavour. Fruits have a sweet and slightly acid flavour. They contain hard seeds which you may wish to remove before consuming. The fruit has a short shelf-life so tends to be preserved as a juice or made into jams and jellies if being used as a commercial food product. Both fruits and pads are mucilaginous.

Smoothies

Both pads and fruit can be eaten raw, and used in smoothies.

Raw Food health coach Markus Rothkranz has a simple recipe for a super hydrating and healing smoothie made from Prickly Pear pads, Aloe Vera and orange juice. This is powerful!

Mexican Style Salsa Salad

Slice up young pads of the cactus into thin strips or cubes and add to salad with chopped tomato, red onion, avocado, lime and coriander.

Cooked – Slice the pads and steam in a little water, or lightly stir fry in coconut oil and serve as a vegetable.

Cooked nopales can be a bit slimy. This can be reduced by cooking in salty water and then rinsing them thoroughly before serving.

Juice

The pads are too mucilaginous to be juiced. However there are methods for juicing the fruit.

A cold press juicer, or a hydraulic press would be ideal for juicing this fruit. Otherwise the easiest way to make juice is to use a blender and then strain through a sieve.Do not blend at too high a speed, as it is best not to blend the seeds as they will make the juice less tasty. Due to the mucilage in the fruit you will need to add a little water to help with straining.

It can be juiced alone, added to blends or diluted with water for a refreshing drink.

Preservation

Pads can stay fresh for a week in the fridge. Pads, fruits and fruit juice can also be frozen. Fruit can be dehydrated and ground into a powder.

The leftover mucilaginous pulp with seeds and peels can be dehydrated and then gently ground to a powder. Sieve the powder to remove the hard seeds which can be ground up as a protein rich flour.

To see how to bulk process fruit, check out this video:

Sources and resources

Physicochemical, Nutritional, and Medicinal Properties of Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. and Its Main Agro-Industrial Use: A Review

Opuntia spp.: Characterization and Benefits in Chronic Diseases

Nutritional aspects, bioactive phytochemicals and biomedical traits of Opuntia spp.: current trends and applications

Eating Cactus: Prickly Pear for Food | Extension | University of Nevada, Reno

Unlocking the Culinary Potential: How Do You Use Raw Nopales? – The Cooking Facts

Deliciously Edible: Unveiling the Truth About Eating Raw Prickly Pear Fruit – Flavory Cooking