Prickly pear

Opuntia ficus-indica · Fruit

40 pairings

The prickly pear, or tuna, is the edible fruit of the Opuntia cactus (chiefly Opuntia ficus-indica) — an egg-shaped berry borne along the rim of the flat green pads, with sweet, watery flesh that ranges from lime-green to deep magenta and is packed with hard, edible seeds.

Picking a good onedrag

Firm, bright, brushed cleanSoft, pitted or fermenting

Ripe and yieldingStill will not improve on the counter. Hold it with a fork and top-and-tail it rather than bare hands; then eat, juice or sorbet it.Everyday best

SkinColour good, a few scuffs from the brushes

GlochidsA few pale tufts left in the dimples; use the tongs

GiveSlight give, springs back

Stem endScar dry and callused over

SmellMild, sweetly melony up close

What to look for, from firm, bright, brushed clean to soft, pitted or fermenting.

What one gives you

65%

Usable yield

About 105 g of pulp from a 160 g fruit · the thick rind is the rest of it, and it is the part carrying the glochids. The small hard seeds are eaten rather than refuse — only swallowing a great many at once has rarely been linked to a blockage.

160 g

Typical weight

one specimen

Keeping ittap a band

AH-66 puts its window at 5–8 °C for two to five weeks. Under 5 °C the peel pits and bronzes, often only showing once it warms again — and a home fridge runs colder than that.

Humidity

90-95%

AH-66 pairs 90–95% RH with that 5–8 °C window; drier and it loses water fast, and the shine goes dull.

Airflow

Vented, not sealed

The stem end is where decay starts. AH-66 cures fruit at 15–20 °C in moving air until the stub of cladode dries off, so keep it dry and uncovered.

Makes almost none, and does not answer it

AH-66 measures about 0.2 µL/kg/h at 20 °C and marks it not sensitive: it neither ripens its neighbours nor is hurried by them. FAO's 0.1–0.2 agrees.

Preparing