''Nopal'' (plural ''nopales'') is a common name in Spanish for ''

Opuntia ''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. Cacti are native to the Americas, and are well adapted to arid clima ...

'' cacti (commonly referred to in English as prickly pear or tender cactus), as well as for its pads. The name ''nopal'' derives from the

Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

word for the pads of the plant.

Description

There are about 114 known species in Mexico, where it is a common ingredient in numerous

Mexican cuisine Mexican cuisine consists of the cuisines and associated traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican Cuisine, Mesoamerican cuisine. Mexican cuisine's ingredients and methods arise from the area's first agr ...

dishes. The ''nopal'' pads can be eaten raw or cooked, used in marmalades, soups, stews and salads, as well as being used for

traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) refers to the knowledge, skills, and practices rooted in the cultural beliefs of various societies, especially Indigenous groups, used for maintaining health and treatin ...

or as fodder for animals. Farmed ''nopales'' are most often of the species '' Opuntia ficus-indica'' or '' Opuntia matudae'' although the pads of almost all ''

'' species are edible. The other edible part of the ''nopal'' cactus is the fruit, called in Spanish and "prickly pear" in English.

Culinary use

''Nopales'' are generally sold fresh in Mexico, cleaned of spines, and sliced to the customer's wishes on the spot. They can also be found canned or bottled as '' nopalitos'', and less often dried, especially for export. Cut into slices or diced into cubes, ''nopales'' have a light, slightly tart flavor, like

green bean Green beans are young, unripe fruits of various cultivars of the common bean ('' Phaseolus vulgaris''), although immature or young pods of the runner bean ('' Phaseolus coccineus''), yardlong bean ( ''Vigna unguiculata'' subsp. ''sesquipedali ...

s, and a crisp,

mucilaginous Mucilage is a thick gluey substance produced by nearly all plants and some microorganisms. These microorganisms include protists which use it for their locomotion, with the direction of their movement always opposite to that of the secretion of ...

texture. In most recipes, the mucilaginous liquid they contain is included in the cooking. They are at their most tender and juicy in the spring. ''Nopales'' are most commonly used in

in dishes such as ''huevos con nopales'' " eggs with nopal", ''carne con nopales'' "meat with nopal", ''

taco A taco (, , ) is a traditional Mexican cuisine, Mexican dish consisting of a small hand-sized corn tortilla, corn- or Flour tortilla, wheat-based tortilla topped with a Stuffing, filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and fing ...

s de nopales'', in salads with tomato, onion, and '' queso panela'' (panela cheese), or simply on their own as a side vegetable. ''Nopales'' have also grown to be an important ingredient in New Mexican cuisine and in

Tejano Tejanos ( , ) are descendants of Texas Creoles and Mestizos who settled in Texas before its admission as an American state. The term is also sometimes applied to Texans of Mexican descent. Etymology The word ''Tejano'', with a ''J'' instead ...

culture of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Nutrition

Per US

cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

serving (236.6 ml), ''nopal'' fruit is an excellent source of the

dietary mineral In the context of nutrition, a mineral is a chemical element. Some "minerals" are essential for life, but most are not. ''Minerals'' are one of the four groups of essential nutrients; the others are vitamins, essential fatty acids, and essent ...

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

(20% of the

Daily Value In the U.S. and Canada, the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) is used in nutrition labeling on food and dietary supplement products to indicate the daily intake level of a nutrient that is considered to be sufficient to meet the requirements of 97� ...

, DV) and a good source of

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits, berries and vegetables. It is also a generic prescription medication and in some countries is sold as a non-prescription di ...

(13% DV),

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...

(11% DV) and

calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...

(14% DV), with nutrient content improving as the plant matures. However, its calcium may not be biologically available because it is present as

calcium oxalate Calcium oxalate (in archaic terminology, oxalate of lime) is a calcium salt of oxalic acid with the chemical formula or . It forms hydrates , where ''n'' varies from 1 to 3. Anhydrous and all hydrated forms are colorless or white. The monohydr ...

, a non-absorbable complex in the small intestine.

Economic value

The ''nopal'' cactus grows extensively throughout Mexico, being especially abundant in the central Mexican arid and semi arid regions. In Mexico there are over of land used to cultivate ''nopal''. There are three typical ways to cultivate ''nopal'' cacti — commercial plantations, family farms and gardens, or in the wild. Approximately are used to produce prickly pear fruit, for the pads production, and to

cochineal The cochineal ( , ; ''Dactylopius coccus'') is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the natural dye carmine is derived. A primarily sessility (motility), sessile parasitism, parasite native to tropical and subtropical Sout ...

production. In 1996 there were prickly pear farmers, as well as around 8000 general ''nopal'' farmers, with all of the people involved in the processing industries and in cochineal production, employing a significant number of the Mexican population. ''Nopal'' is grown in eighteen of the Mexican states with 74% in the

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

metropolitan area, with an annual yield of tons of both the ''tuna'' and the pads. The farming of ''nopal'' provides many subsistence communities with employment, food, income, and allows them to remain on their land. Detection of the cactus-eating moth '' Cactoblastis cactorum'' in Mexico in 2006 caused anxiety among the country's phytosanitary authorities, as this insect can be potentially devastating for the cactus industry.Cactus-eating moth threatens favorite Mexican food
(Mon Feb 19, 2007) In 1925, the same insect was successfully used in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

to control the quickly growing population of cactus, which had become an

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

after its introduction.Patterson, Ewen K. 1936. The World's First Insect Memorial. "The Review of the River Plate", December pp. 16–17

Gallery

File:Prickly Pear 2.JPG, Budding File:Prickly pear leaf bud.JPG, Bud emerging File:Prickly Pear 3half.JPG, Young pad growing File:Prickly Pear 5.JPG, Spines start developing File:Fresh nopal.jpg, Fresh ''nopal'' for sale at a market

References