Also known as nopal. The name comes from the Nahuatl word nochitil. While migrating south into present-day Mexico, the Mexica people believed that their god of war, Huitzilopochtli, (also known as Left-handed Hummingbird) would alert them to their new home by sending them a sign of an eagle perched upon a nopal cactus. When they saw the eagle descend onto the cactus they were in the central part of the country; they named their new home Tenochtitlan, meaning, the place of nopal.
Prickly pear cactus is both a medicine and a refreshing food eaten raw or gently cooked.
It is rich in fiber and thus slows the uptake of blood glucose. It is used also to regulate intestinal peristalsis (movement) and to treat constipation. Mix prickly pear cactus juice with honey and egg yolk to treat a burn.
Prickly pear cactus has been studied extensively by the Mexican government and has demonstrated hypoglycemic (blood glucose lowering) properties.
It is rich in Vitamin C, mucilage and pectin. Research suggests broiled cactus pads are effective at lowering LDL cholesterols.
Due to its nutritional composition, it is considered a good food product, as well as a good forage option in desert areas. Prickly pear cactus lowers blood glucose by blocking hepatic glucose biosynthesis and is especially effective when fasting (Castro et al. 2014).
Castro, C. J., Villa, N., Ramírez, S.A. & Mosso, C. (2014). Uso medicinal de plantas antidiabéticas en el legado etnobotánico oaxaqueño. Revista Cubana de Plantas Medicinales, 19(1), 101-120. Recuperado en 26 de mayo de 2021, de http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1028-47962014000100012&lng=es&tlng=es
Torres-Ponce, R. L., Morales-Corral, D., Ballinas-Casarrubias, M. D. L., & Nevárez-Moorillón, G. V. (2017). El nopal: planta del semidesierto con aplicaciones en farmacia, alimentos y nutrición animal. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Agrícolas, 6(5), 1129. https://doi.org/10.29312/remexca.v6i5.604
Ulloa, M., Herrera, T., & Lappe, P. (1987). Fermentaciones tradicionales indígenas de México (No. 301.097205 I5/16)