Fig Chumbo

The prickly pear: health benefits and virtues

The prickly pear or opuntia ficus-indica is a 2 to 5 m high cactus with spiny, flat, snowshoe shaped segments.

Pixabay photo

The prickly pear belongs to the cactus family, is native to Mexico and was naturalized in the Mediterranean.

The prickly pear for the little story...

It was in the 16th century that the Spanish introduced the prickly pear into the Mediterranean basin. It quickly became naturalized... and even quite invasive.

The prickly pear and its health benefits

• Prickly pear flowers are astringent and soothing: they are used against diarrhea and intestinal irritation. They stop benign bleeding.
• The young fleshy stems, stripped of their thorns, form an emollient poultice.

Did you know that?

Internal use:

Prickly Pear Infusion: 4 to 15 g of flowering tops in half a liter of boiling water. Drink 2 cups of tea a day, if it is cold.

Maceration: 30 g per liter of white wine Leave for 15 days and drink 2 glasses of Bordeaux per day. As a tonic.

• External use :

Poultice: crush the flowering tops and apply to wounds and bruises.

Cultivating the prickly pear for its benefits

It is an absolute necessity, the prickly pear needs full sun and warm exposure. Any poor, deep and well-drained soil, even stony or salty, is suitable for prickly pears.

Advice:

Wear good gloves when you start pruning a prune fig or when you want to harvest its fruit: its thorns are very fine and fearsome! They break extremely easily and remain in the skin.

The prickly pear in a jar?

If you use a sandy substrate, you can keep a prickly pear in a pot for several years. On the other hand, it rarely bears fruit.

Food bugs are the worst enemy of prickly pears. When you see them, remove them manually.

Species and varieties of prickly pears

There are about 200 known species of prickly pears, among them:

• Opuntia robusta: grown in Mexico for its fruit.
• Opuntia cochenillifera and Opuntia tuna: used to breed cochineals from which carmine (a red dye used for more than 2000 years) is obtained.

Fruit and snowshoes can be used.

Make no mistake!

It can be called "figs chumbos", but it has nothing to do with the fig tree. And the Barbary - here North Africa - does not represent its country of origin.

Its harvest is quite delicate. Not because of the thorns of the cactus, but because of the "glochides" (a kind of small barbed stings) gathered in bunches, which are scattered all over the surface. They stick to the fingers or the palate and are extremely difficult to dislodge.

To pick, use a stick whose end is divided into three, the fruit will be stuck in it. Then, a small dry blow is enough to separate them from their support. All that is left is to roll them in the sand or brush them very carefully in the sink.

The prickly pear in the kitchen for its benefits

The prickly pear is eaten raw or cooked in jam (mixed with quince) but also in fruit paste. Fermented, it gives tequila.

In Mexico, we eat cooked prickly pears, cut into strips like green beans.

The nutritional intake of prickly pears

44 kcal/100 g. Mushrooms are rich in sugars, fiber, potassium, magnesium, iron, copper and vitamin C.

Gourmet ideas :

For the sweet pea: prickly pear juice, prickly pear and vanilla cake, prickly pear sabayon. The salty peaks can try the scallops on a bed of prickly pears. This is what you need to know about this exotic and intriguing fruit.

Some synonyms for "figs" to shine in society...

You may be interested:

• 4 natural mouthwashes at home
• Cucumber : benefits and virtues

If you want to know other articles similar to Fig Chumbo you can visit the category Health.