Before the summer monsoon rains arrive, saguaro fruit, which ripen during the hottest and driest time of the year, give vital moisture and nutrition to animals and insects in the Sonoran Desert.
Saguaro cacti can yield an average of 150 fruits per tree, making them a genuine desert grocery store for a few months out of the year. In late May to late June, the succulent fruit splits into three or four halves, revealing the rich red pulp and a cluster of up to 3,500 seeds high atop the saguaro’s branches.
The pulp and seeds of the cactus fruit are consumed by birds and bats, and the fallen fruit is devoured by coyotes and other creatures on the desert floor. The saguaro provided nourishment for native Sonoran Desert dwellers like the River Pima, Tohono O’odham, and Southeastern Yavapai during the hot, dry season prior to monsoon rains.
The seeds of the saguaro, which are rich in protein and fat, have a nut-like flavor and are very pleasant tasting. The fruit can be consumed both fresh and cooked, its pulp dried into cakes, and its juice made into syrup and jam. Raw or dried and crushed into flour, the seeds are consumed. Both alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks can be prepared from juice. The O’odham and Piipaash people still gather saguaro fruit today, carrying on a long-standing tradition and reaffirming the significance of this recognizable cactus in their life.
The Saguaro Cactus, a Natural History by David Yetman, Alberto Burquez, Kevin Hultine, and Michael Sanderson; A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert, 2nd Edition, edited by Mark A. Dimmitt, Patricia Wentworth Comus, and Linda M. Brewer; O’odham Action News, Baidaj Harvesting, by Dodie Manuel August 5, 2020; Food and Plants of the Sonoran Desert by Wendy C. Hodgson;
Saguaro Flowers
Saguaro flowers are typically found close to the apex of the cactus’ stems and arms. They have a diameter of around 3 inches (8 cm) and are white in hue. They smell strongly, somewhat like ripe melons.
Flower pollination
The Mexican long-tongued bat and the lesser long-nosed bat pollinate the blooms at night. Bees and birds like the white-winged dove fertilize the flowers during the day.
Saguaro Fruit
The blossoms develop into brilliant crimson fruit after being fertilized. The fruit splits open to reveal luscious red pulp as it ripens. Up to 2000 tiny black seeds can be found in each berry.
Uses of the fruit
Many desert animals rely on ripe fruit as an excellent source of nutrition and moisture. Finches, woodpeckers, doves, bats, tortoises, javelinas, and coyotes are a few of these creatures. People consume saguaro fruit as well. Since they have inhabited the desert, Tohono O’odham Indians have been gathering the fruit.
Quick Fact
Less than a day is spent in bloom on saguaro flowers. They start operating at night and are open all day the following day. They only have that brief period to entice an animal to pollinate them.
A) Equipment for gathering:
— pole (15-18 feet long with short right angle piece at one end, made from saguaro ribs bound together with baling wire)
— net (constructed from window screen sewed to a framework of thin poles, measuring about 2 1/2 feet square with a 4 foot handle)
B) Gathering fruit:
Find a place with lots of saguaros that is rather level for the best gathering. Use the pole to remove either completely opened fruits or reddish, plump, unopened fruits. Have your companion use a net to capture the fruits. Pull the husk open and scoop out the pulp with your fingers or a spoon from open fruits (it will often come out as a core). If the fruit is closed, use a knife to cut it in half lengthwise, then use a spoon to remove the pulp.
Fruits that have opened and then dried typically still have a decent flavor, whereas closed fruits that have darkened and dried will not. Before being caught in the net, pulp will frequently fall out of the opened fruits. If the pulp spills, it must be carefully cleaned up to eliminate any pebbles and debris (often not worth the trouble). While moving from cactus to cactus, place all pulp in a clean bucket and take care to keep extraneous objects out of the bucket.
C) Yield:
Saguaro fruit harvesting takes time and can be physically demanding. The fruits are frequently 15 feet or more above the ground, the harvest occurs during the hottest part of the year, and the average yield per plant is modest. In a decent location, it should take 2 persons 4-5 hours to collect 2-3 gallons of saguaro pulp. (In contrast, two individuals in a good region can harvest 2-3 gallons of prickly pear cactus fruit in 15 to 20 minutes.)
D) Processing:
Place the entire pulpy stuff in a big kettle. up to a boil (no need to add water, as fruit becomes juicier with heating). To eliminate “clumpiness” and any possible eggs or creatures, boil for 5 to 10 minutes.
Drying:
On a glass baking pan that has been very gently oiled or buttered, spread the cooked pulp about 1/4 inch thick. To keep insects out, cover with a screen and leave outside in the sun until dry (usually 2-4 days depending on humidity). Then, it can be torn apart or maintained whole as a sheet of “leather”. (Also see the pictures in the link at the bottom of the page.) If kept in a closed container, this product will last forever. The dried fruit is great both as a snack and as an ingredient in baked dishes. To separate a dried sheet of fruit for baking, cut into small pieces or soak in the liquid specified in the recipe. The crunchy texture of the seeds is reminiscent of poppy seeds.
Pectin Jam:
a different formula that increases yield When compared to Sure-Jell, Pomona’s Universal Pectin performs better with less sugar (available in Tucson at Food Conspiracy). Follow the “Cooked Directions (Low Sugar or Honey)” on the pectin box, and use these ratios: 4 cups of saguaro pulp, 4 tablespoons of lemon or lime juice, 2 tablespoons of calcium water (which is included with Pomona’s pectin), 3 cups of sugar
Canning Jam:
Prepare sterile pint or 1/2 pint canning jars, lids, and rings. To within 1/8 inch of the rim, quickly pour boiling jam (either boiled down or pectin kind) into jars. Make sure the jar’s rim is spotless. Put a lid on right away, and fasten the ring firmly. Five minutes of jar inversion. Once the jars have cooled (typically in about a half hour), turn them right side up once more and watch for the lids to suction down.
A Saguaro Fruit Harvesting and Processing Expedition in Lower Hot Springs Canyon:
For a visual record of this activity, which happened from June 29 to July 1, 2002, visit this link. Based on David and Pearl’s techniques, this website offers more descriptions and illustrations of the harvesting, several types of processing, and final products.
How do you tell when the saguaro fruit is fully ripe?
After the red flesh of the bahidaj is removed, place it with the red side facing the sun. This means that the moisture will be drawn up by the sun.
as they wait for the harvest. This columnar cactus is supported by the ribs of the saguaro.
Lightning struck the saguaro on the left. It’s dead, yet it’s still standing. When the flesh dies, the ribs explode.
Two poles are perched on an adobe wall to the right, waiting for the harvest.
Can saguaro fruit be harvested?
Harvest of Saguaro Fruit The pole, which can range in length from 15 to 30 feet, can be used to nudge or hook the fruits off the plant. After then, the fruit is picked up off the ground. Fruit pods’ pulp is scraped off them and placed in buckets for transport back to the camp.
How is saguaro fruit wine made?
The largest cacti in the nation tower over the landscape at more than 40 feet tall deep in the Sonoran Desert in southeastern Arizona. Saguaro cacti are impressive with their long spines and huge proportions, but the true reward is the cactus fruit, which, when split open, shows a bright magenta pulp flecked with hundreds of tiny reddish-black seeds. The neighboring Tohono O’odham tribe avoids the urge to sample the juicy, gorgeous fruit despite the fact that it tastes similar to figs and strawberries. They have better ideas: wine made from saguaro cacti.
The fruit is harvested by the Tohono O’odham tribe of Native Americans in late June in order to get ready for the Nawait I’i, or “rain ceremonial.” According to the University of Arizona, there are about 20,000 of them living in Arizona. The festival, which is held during monsoon season, calls for a lot of cactus wine (or tiswin).
According to O’odham folklore, a young woman fell into the earth and sprang up as a cactus with her arms raised towards the heavens. This is how the first Saguaro cactus came into being. The creator god I’itoi also allegedly taught his people how to make wine from the fruit that grew on that cactus. Harvesters hook the fruits and knock them off the plant using long wooden rods manufactured from the ribs of skeletons of Saguaro cacti. The Saguaro pulp is then combined with water in tightly woven baskets, transferred to clay containers called ollas, and let to ferment for roughly seven days in a dark, cool environment.
People dance, read poetry, and sing songs for desert rain as the juice ferments. The males then sip copiously when the wine is ready. The land would be saturated with rain if their bodies got saturated with alcohol, according to folklore. However, instead of genuinely calling for rain today’s tribesmen consume the wine to commemorate their ancestors.
The only way to experience the real Saguaro fruit is to plan a desert vacation to Arizona in June, when you can sing, dance, and sip sweet, delicious, sacred wine until the clouds roll in. Saguaro fruit is difficult to find in other regions of the country.
What is the use of saguaro cactus fruit?
The Hohokam people of the Tucson region employed saguaros in their daily lives, according to archeological data. The structure for the walls of their homes was built out of the sturdy, wooden ribs.
In addition, saguaro ribs were employed to harvest the plant’s high-growing saguaro fruits. A cross-shaped component was attached at the end to connect the various ribs. Ripe fruit was lowered from the top of the plants using these long poles. After that, people would assemble to eat. It is thought that the Tohono O’odham of today are Hohokam ancestors. The saguaro is revered as a holy plant in O’odham culture and should always be treated with care. The calendar is based on the cycles of the saguaro and features saguaro-related rites, such as one that involves fermenting saguaro fruit into wine.
As their forefathers did, the modern Tohono O’odham now pick saguaro fruit. They prepare the ceremonial wine from the sweet fruits, as well as jelly and candy. The saguaro seeds, which are strong in protein, are also used as poultry feed.
Can saguaro fruit be frozen?
Cholla buds and prickly pear pads can be blanched and eaten once the needles are removed. They can also be frozen.
Saguaro fruit can be picked either dry and eaten right away, or it can be picked fresh and frozen.
Bean Tree Farm’s proprietor and Desert Harvesters member Barbara Rose suggests “Tohono O’odham Food Traditions, I’itoi’s Garden. It was made by Mary Paganelli Votto and Frances Manuel in collaboration with Tohono O’odham Community Action.
Carolyn Niethammer is another author that Rose suggests. She wrote “The Prickly Pear Cookbook and other cuisines on Southwest native flora.
If I don’t like snakes or don’t feel the need to travel to pincushion land, what are my options?
Food Conspiracy Co-op, 412 N. Fourth Ave., according to Kelly Watters, sells dried cholla buds from the San Xavier Co-op Farm as ciolim. Additionally, the shop offers prickly pear concentrate from Arizona Cactus Ranch and the Desert Botanical Gardens. Additionally, prickly pear pads, or nopales, are sold in Food City stores.
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