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Common English names for the plant and its fruit are Indian fig opuntia, Barbary fig, cactus pear, prickly pear, and spineless cactus, among many others. [3] In Mexican Spanish, the plant is called nopal, a name that may be used in American English as culinary terms. Peninsular Spanish mostly uses higo chumbo for the fruit and chumbera for the ...
Opuntia, commonly called the prickly pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae, many known for their flavorful fruit and showy flowers. [1] Cacti are well-adapted to aridity; however, they are still vulnerable to alterations in precipitation and temperature driven by climate change. [ 2 ]
There are three typical ways to cultivate nopal cacti — commercial plantations, family farms and gardens, or in the wild. Approximately 57,000 hectares (140,000 acres) are used to produce prickly pear fruit, 10,500 hectares (26,000 acres) for the pads production, and 100 hectares (250 acres) to cochineal production.
Prickly pear fruit for sale at a market, Zacatecas, Mexico. This is a list [1] of edible plants in the family Cactaceae. Acanthocereus tetragonus, the sword pear, Browningia candelaris, [2] Carnegiea gigantea, the Saguaro, Cereus repandus - California and Florida; genus Corryocactus (also known as Erdisia), the tasty berrylike
This cactus blooms in the late spring. The juicy red or purple fruits measure from 3–5 cm (1 + 1 ⁄ 8 –2 in). As the fruit matures, it changes color from green to red, and often remains on the cactus until the following spring. There are 6 to 33 small, flat, light-colored seeds in each fruit.
In Tunisia, where it covers around 12% of cultivated land, second only to olive trees, the cactus pear is a major source of income for thousands, particularly women who harvest and sell the fruit.
The fruit can be eaten or turned into jams, preserves, beers, wines and soaps and the leaves can be used as medication. [6] In addition, prickly pear can be useful fodder, particularly during drought, when few other plants survive.
Opuntia macrocentra, the long-spined purplish prickly pear or purple pricklypear, is a cactus found in the lower Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. A member of the prickly pear genus, this species of Opuntia is most notable as one of a few cacti that produce a purple pigmentation in the stem. Other common names for this plant ...