Prickly pears

These are called ‘Opuntia’, and you see them everywhere here, some small, some huge, some even growing through fences, flat-looking pads with fearsome spikes sticking out from them. All cacti in this genus opunti are edible, though you may find some varieties are not as tasty, having more spines or seeds.

Fruits

Prickly pear fruits and even young flower petals are apparently edible. They start flowering in May, with fruit fully ripened by mid-August, but don’t pick them until they are fully red. They resemble pomegranates in colour, taste, and texture – and is said to be like a mixture of kiwi, pear, and watermelon, or even a cross between a watermelon and bubble gum. If you eat them raw, on your first bite will find some hard crunchy seeds, which you can eat or discard, but if you are making jam, for instance, you might want to strain them out.

The fruits are often used in jelly, candies, wine - and the world-famous ‘prickly pear margarita’, where tequila, lime juice, triple sec, simple syrup and prickly pear juice are combined and served on the rocks with a garnish of fresh lime. Delicious they say, though I have never tried it!

Healthy and low-cal

The prickly pear has health benefits too and are full of antioxidants, with the deep purple ones containing the most. They support liver health, help fight inflammation and are high in vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. They are low in carbs and high in fibre, while being low in calories - one fruit has only around 40 calories.

Can you eat cactus pads?

The actual pads can be eaten too – raw, boiled, sautéed, deep fried, or grilled - and are best served with a tender crunchy texture, so don’t overcook or they will be slimy. The taste is similar to a slightly tart green bean, asparagus, or green pepper. Trim off the outer edge, and don’t forget to scrape off the spikes with a sharp knife first!

One way to remove these thorns is to wear leather gloves and then roll or rub the fruit in a paper towel or a clean cloth. Although the skin is edible, it is wise to remove thorns to ensure you don’t accidentally eat any! Cut the tops and bottom of the prickly pear off, they can then be cut in half and the seeds removed. Slice the fruit thinly lengthwise, and you should now be able to easily peel the skin off of the fruit.

In the wild

But as a plant, it's very difficult to get rid of, as it can multiply in several ways. Much like succulents, prickly pear cactus can clone themselves by re-rooting one of their large fleshy pads if one falls to the ground, and can even regrow if all the pads are cut off but the crown or ‘base trunk’, a few inches below the soil surface, is left intact. They are both male and female and can also reproduce by the seeds of their fruit.

They are known to live well over 20 years. There are several different varieties of prickly pear cactus each growing to different sizes, with the most common species growing up to 1.5m tall and a width of 3m - 4.5m.

If taken from the wild, you will find there are several very sharp thorns/spines in the skin, that must be removed before handling them. While the pads may or may not have spines, both the pads and fruit have tiny hair-like barbed thorns that are referred to as thorns or ‘glochids’, which can lodge in your skin if you’re not careful.

Growing your own

Growth from seed is slow, taking 3 to 4 years before it produces flowers and fruit. The seeds need shade to germinate and should be kept moist until that time. Propagation from pads is much simpler and yields faster results – you can literally just cut a pad off and plant it, and planting several close together will in time make a good barrier to keep wild animals out!

Marilyn writes regularly for The Portugal News, and has lived in the Algarve for some years. A dog-lover, she has lived in Ireland, UK, Bermuda and the Isle of Man. 

Marilyn Sheridan