Prickly pears, also known as nopales for the pads and tunas for the fruit, are truly one of the world’s most amazing plants. They have what seems like a hundred beneficial uses and require next to no additional water or care. In some countries, they go a long way towards feeding the populace with a minimum of cost.
Of the Opuntia genus, they belong to the Cactaceae (or cactus) family. Although native to the Americas, they also flourish in Africa, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East. There are dozens of varieties, and between them all they can survive in a wide range of soils and climates (although they are typically associated with hot, dry areas with poor, well drained soil). They are very drought tolerant and some varieties can even withstand severe freezes.
Both the pads and fruit are delicious and highly nutritious. They can be eaten raw, cooked fresh, pickled, dehydrated, or made into jelly, candy, juice and wine. They also have many other uses, including a wide range of medicinal functions, a low-cost animal feed, a water-proofing agent for paints and plasters, predator-proof fencing, shampoo, pigmentation, and even fibers to use in woven objects like baskets. Now do you see why we love them so much?
Throughout this article, we’ll be addressing issues such as proper handling and propagation, the various uses of this miracle plant, as well as ways in which to cook and preserve the fruit and pads so that you can enjoy them year-round.
If there’s a downside to prickly pears, it comes from the “prickly” parts that gave them their name. Not only do they have long, vicious spines sticking out of the pads, they also have small, fur-like clusters that are called glochids.
While these little hairs may look harmless, they are not. They’ll brush against your skin and get stuck there like tiny needles. There are several spineless varieties of both the pads and the fruit, but even these will sometimes retain their glochids. When we go prickly pear picking, we go with a long list of rules. The first is “Never use your hands to handle the plant”. The most recent addition, care of our 7 year old, Leo, was “DO NOT lick the fruit juice off your tongs” – he will tell you that glochids in your tongue are no fun.
Prickly pears contain high levels of vitamin C, B-family vitamins, magnesium, potassium, calcium, iron, copper, and dietary fiber. They are also high in organic compounds, such as flavonoids, polyphenols, and betalains, all of which are supposedly very good for you.
They also make an excellent feed for animals, especially for those requiring additional calcium (like egg layers or dairy producers), or that do not produce their own vitamin C (like guinea pigs).
Several studies have been conducted examining the medicinal properties of nopales, and it has been suggested that they can help in the treatment of all kinds of conditions, including diabetes, cholesterol, stomach problems, inflammation, cuts and bruises, sunburn, windburn, constipation, and colds. Although results of many of the studies are not yet conclusive, they do seem at least positive. In fact, there has been enough evidence that nopales help lower blood sugar by increasing the body’s ability to absorb insulin and release it slowly, that it is recommended that people with diabetes consult with their doctor before consuming nopales on a regular basis, just to avoid issues with their dose of insulin.
The tuna (fruit) can be eaten fresh and raw. You’ll need to peel it first, being careful to avoid any glochids (if present). While the seeds are edible and harmless, many people prefer to remove them. There are many different varieties of prickly pear, and depending on which ones you have, the fruit can taste similar to watermelon, strawberries, honeydew melons, figs, bananas, or citrus.
The pads can also be eaten raw in salads, but are usually cooked first. They have a flavor similar to green beans.
This recipe makes two and a half pints, so scale it according to how much fruit you have.
This recipe makes about 2 ½ gallons of wine. You can scale it according to how much fruit you have.
Please note that we haven’t actually made this candy. We wanted to add the recipe here partly because it sounds awesome, and partly so that all your prickly pear possibilities are listed in one place (you really can’t help but use alliteration when talking about this plant!). We got the recipe (and photos) from http://dailydishrecipes.com/cactus-fruit-prickly-pear-gum-drops/ and have not altered it at all. Nor did we add the tools needed for this to the list of tools above.
This recipe makes 6 pint jars. You need about 1/3 lb per jar.
If you have an abundance of pads and want to put some aside for later in the year, drying is a possibility. Dehydrated foods often retain a lot more of the original nutrition than canned foods. Be aware that you will need to marinade the nopales first, otherwise they are somewhat tasteless dried.
The gel inside the pads is a great waterproofing agent. Chop up the pads in a concrete mixer or chipper and add the gelatinous substance to a lime plaster or paint. This has been used for a long, long time on old adobe buildings in Mexico.
Because prickly pears are both prolific and prickly, they make a great deterrent to predators on any fence-line. We have planted single pads every three feet around our perimeter fence. Next year, those single pads will have made several more, which we will then remove and plant so that there is a cactus every foot. Another year will see those plants grow taller and wider, so that the whole fence will have a prickly pear presence. The plants will eventually grow to form an impenetrable hedge about 3-6 feet in height. The more it grows, the harder it will be for any predator to get through, and we’ll have a huge supply of fruit to use in jellies and wine.
Prickly pears make a cheap and easy to grow food for animals, as they need no additional irrigation or nutrients. They are especially valuable for animals that require extra calcium, like egg-laying poultry, or for animals that do not produce their own vitamin C, like guinea pigs. They also add a sweet flavor to the milk produced from dairy animals that consume them. Make sure that prickly pears do not constitute more than 50 % of an animal’s feed, or it will develop diarrhea. Depending on your variety, it is best to burn the spines off before feeding them to animals.
In central Africa, the gel from the pads is used as an effective mosquito repellent. The gel can also be added to stagnant water where mosquitos breed, whereby it smothers the larvae and interrupts the life cycle of the dangerous insect.
Nopales can be used as a shampoo that leaves your hair soft and shiny. Cut up a pad into small chunks and then add it to a blender with some water. Strain the pieces out and use the liquid on your hair. Rinse thoroughly after one minute.
The gel from a pad can be used in much the same way as aloe vera. Just apply the gel topically for instant relief.
If you are looking for a natural red dye, look no further than the prickly pear fruit. The red fruit (some tunas are green or yellow) produces a pigment akin to beets.
You can dry the seeds and then grind them for a tasty gluten-free flour.
The spines are very strong and sharp. They can be used as toothpicks, needles or pins.
If you pound and dry the pads, you can extract the strong fibers to use in any weaving project.
Prickly pears can be started from seed, but it is a very slow way to get them going. It’ll be four to five years before you see any fruit. However, if it’s the only option available to you, for whatever reason, simply sprinkle the seeds in a shady garden bed and keep the soil moist (not wet) until they germinate. The actual plant wants full sun, but they transplant easily, so you can always move them.
The best way to start your prickly pear farm is to cut pads off existing plants from your local area and then plant them in the ground. Choose local varieties that are adapted to your specific climate.
When we cut a pad, we generally leave it a couple of weeks for the “wound” to callous before planting it. This avoids any chance that the wound will rot in the ground. On the other hand, lots of people around us remove the pad and plant it straight in the ground and don’t seem to have any problems. If the ground is fairly dry, you shouldn’t have any problem, but if it’s wet, leave the wound to callous.
Planting is easy; just make a small hole and plant the pad vertically (using tongs to handle them), with between ½ and 1/3 of the pad below ground. We have now planted hundreds of pads and have had very, very few failures.
Let the new prickly pear form several new pads before you start to harvest them. It’s best to prune pads to form a central trunk up a few feet before letting it branch out for the best fruit production. Prickly pears have been known to live over 20 years.