What Are the Medical Uses of Cactus Fruit?

Opuntia ficus-indica is the fruit of Opuntia plants. The pulp is rich in trace elements, proteins, amino acids, vitamins, polysaccharides, flavonoids and pectin.

Clusters of succulent shrubs, (1-) 1.5-3 m tall. The upper part of the branch is obovate, obovate elliptic or nearly round, 10-35 (-40) cm long, 7.5-20 (-25) cm wide, 1.2-2 cm thick, rounded at the apex, the edges are usually not Regular wavy, base wedge-shaped or tapered, green to blue-green, glabrous; small pupae sparse, 0.2-0.9 cm in diameter, prominently prominent, thorns often thicken and increase after growth, each small puppet (1-) 3- 10 (-20) root thorns, densely dense short hairs and barbed bristles; thorns yellow, with light brown horizontal stripes, rough diamond-shaped, slightly spreading and inwardly curved, base flat, hard, 1.2-4 (-6) cm long , Width 1-1.5 mm; barbed bristles dark brown, 2-5 mm long, erect, how much persistent; short wool gray, shorter than barbed bristle, persistent. Leaves subulate, 4-6 mm long, green, falling early. Flowers radial, 5-6.5 cm in diam .; peduncle obovate, 3.3-3.5 cm long, 1.7-2.2 cm in diam., Apical truncate and depressed, base narrowing, green, sparsely protruding barren, barberry with short wool , Barbed bristles and diamond-shaped spines; creeping perianth segments obovate to narrow obovate, 10-25 mm long, 6-12 mm wide, apex acute or rounded, with small pointed tips, yellow, with green middle ribs ; Petaloid perianth or obovate, 25-30 mm long, 12-23 mm wide, apex round, truncated or slightly concave, margin entire or lightly astringent; filaments pale yellow, 9- 11 mm; anthers about 1.5 mm long, yellow; styles 11-18 mm long, 1.5-2 mm in diameter, light yellow; stigmas 5, 4.5-5 mm long, yellow-white. The berries are obovoid, the top is sunken, the base is narrowly narrowed into a stalk-like shape, 4-6 cm long, 2.5-4 cm in diameter, smooth and glabrous on the surface, purplish red, 5-10 raised small ridges on each side, small ridges With short wool, barbed bristles and rhinestones. Seeds are numerous, oblate, 4-6 mm long, 4-4.5 mm wide, and about 2 mm thick. The edges are slightly irregular, glabrous, yellowish brown. Flowering from June to October (-12) months. ^[1]

Native to the eastern coast of Mexico, the southern and southeastern United States, the West Indies, Bermuda, and northern South America; escaped in the Canary Islands, India, and eastern Australia; introduced in China at the end of the Ming Dynasty; commonly cultivated in the southern coastal areas. Guangdong, southwestern Guangxi, and coastal areas of Hainan are wild. ^[1]

Summer side dishes-cold cactus

Materials: 200 grams of edible cactus leaves, appropriate amount of salt, sugar, and sesame oil.

Method: Wash the cactus, peel and puncture with a knife, cut into strips that are easy to eat, and soak in the salt water for 20 minutes. Remove the cactus sticks, clean them, add salt, sugar, sesame oil, etc. and mix well (you can increase or decrease the seasoning according to your own taste, such as adding pepper, vinegar, garlic, or fruit). ^[3]

Home-made stir-fry-sliding egg cactus

Materials: 200 grams of edible cactus leaves, 2 eggs, edible oil and salt.

Method: Wash and peel the cactus, cut into small pieces for later use. Heat the oil and fry the eggs until they are almost cooked. Then add the cactus pieces to fry and add an appropriate amount of salt. ^[3]

Refreshing Juice-Cactus Juice

Material: 1 cactus fruit, appropriate amount of honey and water.

Method: Cut the cactus fruit and take the pulp. Put the pulp together with honey and stir well.

Note: Not all species of cactus are edible. Ask for the species when buying; cactus fruit has octagonal thorns, so be careful when handling. ^[3]