Most people don't even know that cacti do produce fruits, leave alone edible fruits. Well, fact is the do produce fruits and some fruits are edible. Other uses of cacti fruits include manufacture of intoxicants, dyes, earthen walls, detergents and drugs. Opuntia is the most prolific genus in the family Cactaceae for producing edible cacti fruits. The most common culinary species is the O. ficus-indica that produces fruits which are sometimes referred to as "prickly pears".
Cactus growing has been lately highly commercialized due to the realization of the above named applications. Most gardeners are however also involved in small scale production of cactus fruits in pursuit to its culinary benefits. Growing cactus in your home garden can be pretty easy and fun too. The following are tips for caring and preparing cactus fruits whether you intend to use them as food or as ornamental plants with their showy pink/red flowers and colorful purple/red fruits.
Cactus planting/propagation:
Cactus can be propagated both from cuttings and seeds. Seed propagations it however recommended for home and small scale gardeners.
Buy the commercially available cactus seeds of your choice or better still acquire the seeds from the previous mature plant.
If you are preparing the seeds at home ensure that the pods are mature and ready before harvesting the seed. Choose to harvest when the flower dies off but just before the pod dries.
Remove the mature seeds either by slicing the pods opens with a sharp razor or by twisting them a little.
Prepare your garden by finely tilling it and incorporate organic manure if available. Prickly pear cacti prefer sandy soils, if you can, incorporate a little sandy soil in the top soil of the garden.
Sow the seeds evenly in a finely tilled garden and water daily. The seeds germinate after 4 to 6 week.
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Nutritional Value of Cactus Fruit
Green cactus pear contains around 40 calories and is low in cholesterol and sodium. The Nutritional Value of Cactus Fruit of both the green and the red/purple cactus are rich in vitamin C and magnesium and are currently being studied for the possibility of hangover and high blood pressure treatment.
Mature cacti fruits are normally purple, reddish-orange or deep purple in skin color. When preparing cactus fruit, handle with protection, possible tongs and gloves to avoid injury. You can swirl them in a plastic colander for about three minutes to remove the spines
cut both ends off the fruit and then cut longitudinally to remove the skin
The inner pear pulp can be eaten directly or used to make jelly, jam, candy or wine.
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