Prickly Pear

            The prickly pear is a surprisingly desired fruit. Considering it grows on a cactus and is coated in tiny spines, the fact that it is coveted for both food and medicine is counterintuitive. While the science is not there to support it, the prickly pear fruit has a history in Mexican folk medicine as a treatment for diabetes and the juice was used to treat burns¹. A writer for the Arizona Republic, who sees the fruits grow wild, reports on its many nutritious qualities: high vitamin C, calcium, potassium, and fiber, and low sodium, cholesterol, and saturated fat². It seems like I can’t find a fruit or vegetable that someone isn’t raving about. DuPuis’s account of milk’s rise to perfect food-hood makes a bit more sense now that I notice lots of foods being promoted in a similar manner. Apparently you can find a proponent for any food more nutritious than a Twinkie. Don’t get me wrong – I love fruit, but this prickly pear did not please me.

            If its nutrients were present, its flavors were not. Upon cutting it open, I was excited to find an enticing pomegranate-red flesh that looked juicy and flavorful. When I cut off the skin and took a bite, however, I felt horribly deceived. The flavor was virtually nonexistent – at best a slight tanginess – and the texture was that of a dry watermelon. Add to these qualities an overabundance of hard, little seeds and the whole experience was decidedly underwhelming. I am willing to give prickly pears the benefit of the doubt and say that mine was just a bad representative. After all, the non-locality of this fruit once again means it is hardly fresh of the cactus. Plus, I really have no idea where it was in the ripening process. I’m thinking, based on the texture, that it was probably a little overripe.

            So where does this leave me? I suppose the jury is still out on the prickly pear as a food and as a medicine. Will I eat it again? I think probably not, unless I travel a couple thousand miles to the southwest.

1.      http://www.drugs.com/npp/prickly-pear.html

2.      http://www.azcentral.com/health/diet/articles/0531prickly0531.html