Got these cactuses from the side of the road a while back and noticed they were turning purple. Google says fruit. Is it and can I eat it once ripe?

Thanks for the help!

by littlenickel-

13 Comments

  1. Responsible-Factor53

    Once ripe. Prickly pear is the name. Recipes available online.

  2. carneadevada

    Wait for all of them to be a nice deeeeeep purple and then carefully harvest them. I plan to turn mine into 3 ingredient jam before too much longer. Maybe 4 ingredients if I could make up my mind about a complimentary flavor.

  3. Celara001

    Absolutely, and it’s delicious! You can also make jams… also delicious.

  4. holycrapitsdan

    Like others commented, its prickly pear or tuna. The cactus pads are also edible, called nopales.

  5. Wretched_Hare

    Yes, be careful with those little spots though, they probably have micro spines that are a pain to deal with and delicate.

  6. sora_mui

    I’ve tried it, taste similar to dragon fruits. Also gave the other half to my (fully adult at that time) younger brother and he bite it like an apple, skin and glochids included. We spent the entire afternoon pulling the glochids one by one from his mouth.

    Edit: to clarify, it’s not this exact species, but one that is so full of glochids it appears fluffy.

    Edit 2: i think it’s opuntia littoralis, grows practically on the beach, tried it because my father said that it’s his childhood snack

  7. Bright-Place5374

    Stab a fork into it and turn in circles to tear it off. Now pin it down with that same fork and cut the ends off with a knife. Give one last cut across the remaining peel while still pinned with the fork. Now use your knife to peel it. The peel comes off very easily. You just pull the peel away from the inner flesh and it will come off clean. It’s not as cumbersome as peeling oranges (thank goodness). Whatever you do though, never ever touch those fruits with your hands whilst unpealed. You will regret it for days.

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