- Treatment for urinary tract infections with an infusion of pads
- Raw nopalitos include mucilage (pulp), which lowers the rate of sugar absorption and significantly lessens the symptoms of insulin shock.
- Adult pads as a wound poultice and antiseptic
- mature pads for burn treatment
- Tea prepared from pads to treat scar tissue from tuberculosis
- Mucilage from mature pads has antibacterial qualities because it kills bacteria in cultures.
- Boils are treated with a hot prickly pear pad treatment.
- As a hemostat, split pads are used to halt bleeding.
- Treatment for a swollen prostate using infusion of pads
Insoluble calcium oxalate and soluble mucilage are both abundant in pads. They drastically decrease cholesterol and prevent glycemia due to their hypoglycemic action. Simple carbohydrates are not absorbed as well when exposed to soluble fibers, especially viscous mucilage. In addition, amylose, which breaks down into simple sugars more slowly than amylopectin, the starch found in bread and potatoes, is abundant in pads. However, mature pads have insoluble calcium oxalate crystals that could be harmful to your health. Nopales are beneficial in “preventing diet-related cardiovascular disease and adult onset diabetes” as well as “preserving the male prostate gland,” according to Laredo herbalist Tony Ramirez. (2011) Fowler
Temalpakh, 1972: Cahuilla Indian Plant Knowledge and Use. Press of Malki Museum.
1983 Experiencing America’s Unknown Interior by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca. New Mexico University Press [Reprint of Crowell-Collier Publishing’s 1961 edition].
1981 Choke Canyon Reservoir and Surrounding Area Historic Indian Groups. Volume 1 of the Choke Canyon Series. Archeological Research Center San Antonio’s branch of the University of Texas. Texas’ San Antonio.
1968 A wooden pestle and mortar from Texas’s Val Verde County. Texas Archeological Society Bulletin 39:1–8.
What do you call the cactus you eat?
Nopal is a common name in Spanish for both the Opuntia cactus (often known in English as prickly pear) and its pads. Nopal is derived from the Nahuatl word nohpalli[nopali] for the plant’s pads.
There are 114 species that have been identified in Mexico,[1] where it is a prevalent element in many recipes that are part of the cuisine. The nopal pads can be consumed raw or cooked, added to soups, stews, salads, marmalades, traditional medicines, or used as animal feed. Although the pads of nearly all Opuntia species are edible, nopales grown for food are most frequently of the species Opuntia ficus-indica or Opuntia matudae. The fruit, also known as the “prickly pear” in English and the “tuna” in Spanish, is the other portion of the nopal cactus that can be eaten.
In Mexico, nopales are typically sold fresh, free of thorns, and cut to the customer’s specifications right away. They can also be obtained as nopalitos in cans or bottles, and less frequently dried, particularly for export. Nopales have a crisp, mucilaginous texture and a mild, slightly acidic flavor akin to green beans when cut into slices or diced into cubes. Most recipes call for cooking with the mucilaginous liquid they contain. In the spring, they are at their most supple and luscious. [2]
In Mexican food, nopales are most frequently used in meals like huevos with nopales (“eggs with nopales”), carne con nopales (“meat with nopales”), tacos de nopales (“nopal tacos”), salads with tomato, onion, and queso panela (“panela cheese”), or just by themselves as a side vegetable. Nopales have developed into a crucial component of Tejano culture in Texas as well as New Mexican cuisine[3].