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Peel with a knife and fork, never bare hands.
Tastes between watermelon and bubblegum.
Seeds are hard — swallow or spit, never chew.
Sweet, watery and full of small hard seeds. The skill is getting past the tiny spines on the skin.
Known to botanists as Opuntia ficus-indica.
One of the few fruits that thrives where almost nothing else grows, feeding people through droughts that killed other crops.
High water, high magnesium and moderate sugar make it a genuinely refreshing fruit in heat. The seeds are the one caution: for older adults with slow digestion, strain the juice rather than eating the pulp whole.
Betalain pigments, the same family found in beetroot.
Water and soluble fibre for easy hydration.
The prickly pear is the fruit of a flat-padded cactus. Each fruit is an egg-shaped barrel, green to deep magenta, covered in tiny hair-fine spines called glochids. Inside is sweet, watery flesh full of small hard seeds.
Family: Cactaceae (cactus family).
Persian temperament: Cool & Moist (2nd degree). Strongly cooling and moistening, which is exactly what a desert fruit was expected to be.
As a New World plant, prickly pear has no place in classical Persian texts. Where it grows across North Africa and the Middle East it's treated as cooling and thirst-quenching; the pads are used separately.
Eaten to quench thirst in hot, dry climates.
The cactus pads, not the fruit, were used as a cooling poultice (a soft paste held against the skin) for skin.
Brought from Mexico to the Mediterranean in the sixteenth century, it spread so completely across Sicily, North Africa and the Levant that most people assume it's native. In Mexico both fruit and pad remain everyday food.
Primary compounds
Betalains (the deep red pigments in beetroot); vitamin C.
Other notable constituents
Minerals: Potassium, Calcium · Antioxidants: Betanin, Isorhamnetin
Early research
Opuntia ficus-indica intake improved fasting glucose measures in small human trials.Emerging evidence
Opuntia extract reduced hangover symptom scores in a small randomised trial, an unusual but repeatedly cited finding.Emerging evidence
Cactus pear intake lowered total cholesterol in small controlled feeding studies, with the fibre in the pulp the likely reason.Emerging evidence
Never handle bare-handed. Use tongs, a fork or thick gloves.
Rinse under running water to knock the glochids off first.
Hold with a fork, cut off both ends, slit the skin and peel it back.
Chilled, peeled and sliced, with a squeeze of lime.
Blend and strain for juice; the seeds don't soften.
Cooked down into a thick syrup or jam.
Lime
A squeeze of lime is the difference between a bland pink juice and a good one.
Mint
Mint and prickly pear together make the coldest-tasting drink you can put in a glass.
Cucumber
Blend the two together with ice and you get a summer drink that actually rehydrates rather than just tasting cold.
Honey
The fruit is mildly sweet already. So honey is for balance rather than for sugar.
Betalains can turn urine and stool pink or red. It is harmless and passes.
Cactus pad (nopal) supplements are a different product from the fruit; claims about one don't carry to the other.
Glochids embed in skin and lips and are hard to remove. Prepare with tongs and rinse well.
Eating large amounts of seeds has caused bowel blockages in rare cases. Do not eat several fruits' worth of seeds in one sitting.
Diabetes medicine — Opuntia has been studied for blood sugar and may add to the effect of glucose-lowering medicine. Watch for lows if you eat it daily. (moderate concern)
Oral medicines generally — The pads are high in mucilage, which can slow absorption. Leave a couple of hours between nopal and tablets. (low concern)
Diuretics — Prickly pear has a mild diuretic (makes you pass more urine) reputation, which is worth mentioning if you already take water tablets. (low concern)
Pregnancy and breastfeeding
The fruit is ordinary food and rehydrating in hot weather. Concentrated cactus supplements have not been studied in pregnancy, so leave those out.
Children
Children should never pick or peel these themselves. Serve it already peeled and strained, and the glochids stop being an issue.
Older adults
Watery, cooling, and easy to swallow. Strain the juice well, because the seeds are hard and many and no one enjoys them.
Spring
The pads grow and the yellow flowers open. Nothing ripe.
Summer
Late summer brings the first fruit, and it's at its best when the heat is worst.
Autumn
The main season. Fruit ripens purple, orange or green depending on the variety, and the pads are cut for cooking too.
Winter
Out of season. Bottled juice and syrup are what remain.
How do I avoid the spines?
Handle with tongs, rinse the fruit under running water, and peel with a knife and fork.
Can I eat the seeds?
You can swallow a few, but don't chew them and don't eat a large quantity at once.
End of the Prickly Pear guide