Nopal

File:Prickly Pear 5half.JPG

Nopal (plural nopales) is a common name in Spanish for Opuntia cacti (commonly referred to in English as prickly pear or tender cactus), as well as for its pads. The name nopal derives from the Nahuatl word {{lang|nah|nohpalli}} {{IPA|nah|noʔˈpalːi|}} for the pads of the plant.

Description

There are about 114 known species in Mexico,{{cite journal|last=Chavez-Moreno|first=Ck|author2=Casas, A |author3=Tecante, A |title=The Opuntia (Cactaceae) and Dactylopius (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) in Mexico: a historical perspective of use, interaction and distribution|journal=Biodiversity and Conservation|year=2009|volume=18|issue=13|pages=3337–3355|doi=10.1007/s10531-009-9647-x|s2cid=31888291}} where it is a common ingredient in numerous Mexican cuisine dishes. The nopal pads can be eaten raw or cooked, used in marmalades, soups, stews and salads, as well as being used for traditional medicine or as fodder for animals. Farmed nopales are most often of the species Opuntia ficus-indica or Opuntia matudae although the pads of almost all Opuntia species are edible. The other edible part of the nopal cactus is the fruit, called {{lang|es|tuna}} in Spanish and "prickly pear" in English.

Culinary use

Nopales are generally sold fresh in Mexico, cleaned of spines, and sliced to the customer's wishes on the spot. They can also be found canned or bottled as nopalitos, and less often dried, especially for export. Cut into slices or diced into cubes, nopales have a light, slightly tart flavor, like green beans, and a crisp, mucilaginous texture. In most recipes, the mucilaginous liquid they contain is included in the cooking. They are at their most tender and juicy in the spring.Aliza Green, Field Guide to Produce, Quirk Productions, 2004, pp. 214–215, {{ISBN|1-931686-07-6}}

Nopales are most commonly used in Mexican cuisine in dishes such as huevos con nopales "eggs with nopal", carne con nopales "meat with nopal", tacos de nopales, in salads with tomato, onion, and queso panela (panela cheese), or simply on their own as a side vegetable. Nopales have also grown to be an important ingredient in New Mexican cuisine{{cite news|last1=Daniel|first1=Frank Jack|title=Thorny Mexican food staple gains fame as folk cure|url=http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=healthNews&storyid=2007-04-16T133330Z_01_N13231155_RTRUKOC_0_US-MEXICO-CACTUS.xml&src=rss&rpc=22|work=Reuters|date=April 16, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703032838/http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=healthNews|archive-date=July 3, 2007}} and in Tejano culture of Texas.

File:Nopalsalad.jpg

Nutrition

Per US cup serving (236.6 ml), nopal fruit is an excellent source of the dietary mineral manganese (20% of the Daily Value, DV) and a good source of vitamin C (13% DV), magnesium (11% DV) and calcium (14% DV),{{cite web| url=http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/3029/2| author = Nutritiondata.com| title= Nopales, Raw, Nutrition Facts, USDA SR-21| publisher = Conde Nast}} with nutrient content improving as the plant matures.{{Cite journal | pmid = 21655119| year = 2011| last1 = Hernández-Urbiola| first1 = M. I.| title = Chemical analysis of nutritional content of prickly pads (Opuntia ficus indica) at varied ages in an organic harvest| journal = International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health| volume = 8| issue = 5| pages = 1287–95| last2 = Pérez-Torrero| first2 = E| last3 = Rodríguez-García| first3 = M. E.| doi = 10.3390/ijerph8051287| pmc = 3108109| doi-access = free}} However, its calcium may not be biologically available because it is present as calcium oxalate, a non-absorbable complex in the small intestine.{{cite journal| last = Mcconn| first = Michele |author2=Nakata, Paul |date=February 2004| title = Oxalate Reduces Calcium Availability in the Pads of the Prickly Pear Cactus Through Formation of Calcium Oxalate Crystals| journal = Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry | volume = 52| issue = 5| pages = 1371–1374| url = http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?SEQ_NO_115=161211| access-date = 2006-08-10| doi = 10.1021/jf035332c| pmid = 14995148}}

Economic value

File:Nopales de General Treviño.jpg

The nopal cactus grows extensively throughout Mexico, being especially abundant in the central Mexican arid and semi arid regions. In Mexico there are over {{convert|3,000,000|ha|acre|lk=on}} of land used to cultivate nopal. There are three typical ways to cultivate nopal cacti — commercial plantations, family farms and gardens, or in the wild. Approximately {{convert|57,000|ha|acre}} are used to produce prickly pear fruit, {{convert|10,500|ha|acre}} for the pads production, and {{convert|100|ha|acre}} to cochineal production.{{Citation needed|date=April 2015}} In 1996 there were {{convert|10,300|ha|acre|lk=on}} prickly pear farmers, as well as around 8000 general nopal farmers, with all of the people involved in the processing industries and in cochineal production, employing a significant number of the Mexican population.{{Citation needed|date=April 2015}} Nopal is grown in eighteen of the Mexican states with 74% in the Mexico City metropolitan area, with an annual yield of {{formatnum:58000}} tons{{which|date=August 2019}} of both the tuna and the pads.{{cite journal|last= Vigueras |first= G.A.L |author2= Portillo, L. |title= Uses of Opuntia Species and the Potential Impact of Cactoblastis cactorum (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in Mexico |journal= The Florida Entomologist |date= December 2001 |volume= 84 |issue= 4 |pages= 493–498 | doi= 10.2307/3496377 |url= http://journals.fcla.edu/flaent/article/download/74993/72651 |jstor= 3496377 |doi-access= free }} The farming of nopal provides many subsistence communities with employment, food, income, and allows them to remain on their land.

Detection of the cactus-eating moth Cactoblastis cactorum in Mexico in 2006 caused anxiety among the country's phytosanitary authorities, as this insect can be potentially devastating for the cactus industry.[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-cactus-idUSN1634865620070217 Cactus-eating moth threatens favorite Mexican food] (Mon Feb 19, 2007) In 1925, the same insect was successfully used in Australia to control the quickly growing population of cactus, which had become an invasive species after its introduction.Patterson, Ewen K. 1936. The World's First Insect Memorial. "The Review of the River Plate", December pp. 16–17