Opuntia genus Ficus - indicais a mintage of cactus that has long been a domesticated crop plant significant in agrarian economies throughout arid and semiarid constituent of the world . It is imagine to be native to Mexico . Some vernacular English names for the plant and its yield are Indian Fig Opuntia , Barbary Fig , Cactus Pear , Spineless Cactus , and Prickly Pear . However , this last name has also been applied to other less commonOpuntiaspecies . In Mexican Spanish , the works is call up Nopal , while the fruit is called Tuna , and these names are also used in American English , especially as culinary terms .
Indian Fig Opuntia is grown in the main as a fruit harvest but also for vegetable nopales and other utilisation . Most culinary reference to the " Prickly Pear " refer to this species . The name " Tuna " is also used for the fruit of this cactus andOpuntiain world-wide .
Cactiare good crops for dry area because they efficiently convert water into biomass . Opuntia genus Ficus - indica , as most widespread of the long - domesticated caci , is as economically significant as corn whiskey andTequila Agavein Mexico today . BecauseOpuntiaspecies interbreed easily , the wild origin ofOpuntia ficus - indicais likely to have been in Mexico because its close inherited relative are found in central Mexico .
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Today ’s most commercially valuable use forOpuntia ficus - indicais for the large sweet fruit forebode Tunas . Areas with substantial tuna - maturate finish admit Mexico , Malta , Spain , Sicily , and the coast of Southern Italy , Greece , Libya , Tunisia , Morocco , Algeria , Lebanon , Syria , Egypt , Saudi Arabia , Yemen , Israel , Chile , Brazil , Turkey , as well as in Eritrea and Ethiopia where the yield is call Beles . In Sicily , where the Prickly Pear fruit is know as Ficudinnia ( the Italian name being Fico d’India , mean " Indian Fig " ) , the cactus develop wild and work to height of 12 to 16 feet ( 4 to 5 m ) . In Namibia , Opuntia ficus - indicais a common drouth - resistant fodder plant .
The plants blossom in three clear-cut colors : white , yellow , and reddened . The flush first look in early May through the former summer in the Northern Hemisphere , and the fruit ripen from August through October . After chilling in a icebox for a few time of day , the fruits are typically eaten , minus the loggerheaded tabu skin . They have a sense of taste standardised to a juicy , extra sweet Citrullus vulgaris . The brilliant crimson - imperial or white - yellowish flesh contains many tiny hard seeds that are usually swallowed but should be avoided by those who have problems bear seeds .
kettle of fish and jelly are produced from fruit that resemble strawberries and figs in color and flavor .
Mexicans have usedOpuntiafor thousands of years to make an alcoholic drinking scream colonche .
In the center of Sicily , in the Province of Enna , in a small village named Gagliano Castelferrato , a Prickly Pear - flavor liqueur is make called " Ficodi , " flavored somewhat like a medicinal aperitif .
In the early 1900s in the United States , the Prickly Pear fruit was import from Mexico and Mediterranean nation to gratify the grow population of immigrants arriving from Italy and Greece . The fruit lost its popularity during the mid-1950s but has increased in popularity since the late nineties due to the influx of Mexican immigrants .
late , the oxen industry of the Southwest United States has begun to cultivateOpuntia ficus - indicaas a fresh informant of feed for cattle . The cactus is grow as a feed source and boundary fence . Cattle avoid the sharp pricker of the cactus and do not stray from an area enclosed by it . Native Prickly Pear growth has been used for over a century to fertilise them . The spur can be sunburn off to reduce oral cavity combat injury . The cactus pads , on which the kine feed , are low-spirited in dry matter and unprocessed protein but are utile as a add-on in drouth conditions . In plus to the food economic value , the moisture content virtually eradicate irrigate the cattle and the human drive in achieving that chore .
Mexican and other southwesterly occupant eat the young cactus pad ( singular : nopal , plural form : nopales ) , usually picked before the spines harden . They are sliced into strips , skin or unskinned , and fry with eggs and jalapeños , serve as a breakfast delicacy . They have a grain and flavour like chain beans .
They can be boiled , used raw , combine with fruit juice , cooked on a frying pan ( tastes best than boiled ) , and often used as a side saucer to go with chicken or bestow to tacos along with chopped onion and cilantro .
In Malta , a liqueur called Bajtra ( the Maltese name for Prickly Pear ) is made from this yield , which grows wild in almost every field . On the island of Saint Helena , the Prickly Pear also gives its name to the topically distilled cordial Tungi Spirit .
Other use let in an ingredient in adobe ( to bind and waterproof ) .
Opuntia genus Ficus - indica(as well as other species inOpuntia ) is domesticate in nopalries to serve as a server plant for cochineal insects , which produce desirable red and purple dyestuff . This practice dates from pre - Columbian time .
The fruit ofOpuntia genus Ficus - indicacan cause impairment if take in with the seed . Without the seeds , it is a laxative . A University of South Florida engineering professor and a team of researcher have found that mucilage from the Prickly Pear cactus works as a natural , non - toxic dispersant for oil spills .
The fruit hold vitamin C and were one of the former remedy for scurvy . The crimson color of the succus is due to betalains ( betanin and indicaxanthin ) , two molecule with antioxidant action . The plant also hold the antioxidant flavonoids quercetin , ( + ) -dihydroquercetin ( taxifolin ) , quercetin 3 - methyl ether ( isorhamnetin ) and kaempferol .
Other fruit pulp constituents are sugar ( glucose and fructose , starch ) , proteins , and fiber robust in pectin .
Source : wikipedia.org
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