Festive Prickly Pear Fruit

Many cultivated fruits are used to decorate homes at holiday time. One wild native edible fruit available throughout the southern United States and produce markets across the country is prickly pear aka Indian fig, cactus pear, barbary fig and tuna in Spanish.

Genus Opuntia

The oblong fruit is borne on the prickly pear cactus, a species of plant in genus Opuntia. The genus is characterized by the flat stems or prickly pads. Each pad grows out from another at an aerole, the bumpy protrusion on a cactus pad where tufts of spines grow.

In spring and summer canary yellow saucer-shaped flowers blossom on the edges of the pads. Soft and juicy fruits replace the flowers in fall. The ripe reddish fruits may be eaten after the tufts of spines are removed.

Harvesting Prickly Pears

If Peter Piper picked a peck of prickly pears, he would wear heavy rubber gloves or use tongs to pick the fruit off the pad. Spines can easily penetrate the skin and can be difficult to see and to remove. Cooks recommend scrubbing fruits under running water with an old toothbrush or vegetable brush. Native Americans rubbed off spines with rocks.

Prickly Pear Holiday Foods

Despined fruits are eaten raw or the pulp is prepared in many different ways. Cooks peel the pear, slice it in half lengthwise, and scoop out the small black seeds. Seeds can be dried and saved for gift giving and propagation projects.

The pulp is used in candy, cookies, jelly, jam, preserves, ice pops, sorbets, coolers, wine and even exotic margaritas. The deliciously tangy raw fruit’s flavor has been compared to cranberry, watermelon, pomegranate, kiwi, and strawberry.

Prickly Pear Holiday Gift

Delight holiday guests with jars of homemade prickly pear jelly:

• 24 ripe despined and peeled fruits
• 1 ½ cups water
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 3 ½ tbls. pectin
• 3 cups sugar

1. Place fruit and water into pot and boil 10 minutes.
2. Cool to lukewarm and mash pulp with potato masher.
3. Cook again over low heat for 10 minutes.
4. Strain pulp and juice through a sieve or in a Foley mill.
5. Rinse out pot and pour in juice. Add pectin and lemon juice.
6. Bring mixture to a boil while stirring it.
7. Add sugar and bring to a boil again. Keep stirring boiling mixture for 3 minutes.
8. Pour into sterilized jelly jars.

Prickly Pear in the Landscape

The prickly pear cactus is a trouble-free plant to maintain. The hardy Opuntia are cold, heat and drought tolerant fast growing plants. They grow in alkaline and acid soils.

Wildlife gardeners find squirrels, mice, rabbits and coyotes nibbling upon the fruit with little concern for the spines. Birds like the mourning dove use the spiny cactus as a protective nesting site and source of seeds.

Homeowners use the spiny pads and fruit to their advantage by planting prickly pear cactus ornamental evergreen hedges to deter intruders.

Although native to the Americas, the prickly pear cactus has been introduced and cultivated in Mediterranean Europe, South Africa, Australia, and India. Luther Burbank bred the first spineless prickly pear for use as livestock feed worldwide. Since the pads store abundant water, animals survive on the pads for months in arid regions.

At one time a red dye was obtained from the fruit. The cochineal insect feeds on the fruit and emits a red dye waste. The cochineal dye industry flourished until the advent of synthetic dyes.

Whether decorating the exterior of the home or invited inside, the prickly pear fruit adds a festive touch to holidays.