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Prickly pears, also known as tunas, are used for food, drink, and medicine in Central and South America, but are considered weeds in Australia. The Opuntia cactus genus is found in arid regions worldwide and is valued for its nutritional benefits. The fruit can be prepared by cutting off the top and bottom and peeling the skin to reveal the edible fruit inside.
Depending on the location, prickly pears are either loved or despised. Widely known as tunas in the Hispanic community, these segmented balls of desert cactus have been used for centuries as food, drink and medicine in Central and South America, particularly Mexico, but can be found transplanted to many other arid regions such as l Mediterranean Europe. Thorny plants are protected in areas of the American Southwest, but loathsome in places like Australia, where they are considered weeds and often killed on sight.
Tuna belongs to the Opuntia cactus genus, also known as nopales cactus. These plants are found in large clusters of prickly thorny segments, often blooming a vivid purple then gradually transitioning to a light green hue. The plants are native to drier regions of the Americas but have spread to arid regions around the world.
In places like Greece, Italy and other arid regions of the Mediterranean, cacti have become widely accepted. They can also be found clinging to life in harsher climates along the Great Lakes and in Canada. Tuna fruits are also found in North Africa and South Africa.
In other locations, such as Australia and the island of Nevis in the West Indies, tuna cacti have been driven by targeted infestations of moth larvae. These efforts were aimed at destroying what officials there believed to be an invasive species of weed. US states are now blaming the Caribbean eradication effort for other, more current moth infestations. This western environmental state is ironically threatening protected tuna populations in the American Southwest and Mexico.
For many in the Western Hemisphere where it originated, the tuna fruit is a valuable medicinal resource. The plant’s richness in antioxidants and alkaloids is hailed for its nutritional benefits, and recent research aims to isolate some strains of these cacti that could work as a treatment for diabetes. While the jury is out yet on whether that cure will come, it has been used for centuries as a folk remedy by indigenous peoples to ease bowels and heal damaged skin. Fermented prickly pear also forms the basis for a traditional Mexican alcohol called colonche, which combines hallucinatory and sedative effects.
Some may look at a tuna fruit and think it might be difficult to prepare or eat. Once the gloves are on though, all worries can end. To reach the edible parts inside, the top and bottom of the shovel are cut off and then a slit is made from one end to the other, which allows the skin to peel off. Inside is a fruit that can be diced and added to a salad – seeds and all – or mixed vigorously into a juice. This juice can be drunk as is or added to other juices for a cocktail.
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