The nopal cactus is the flat-stemmed, U.S.-originating, prickly pear cactus. After the plant’s late-spring flowers fade, they make way for the edible fruit called the prickly pear. The University of California says the red fruit can taste like strawberries, melons or bananas. Regardless, they are nutritious, offering a number of minerals and vitamins.
Vitamins
One cup of nopal cactus fruit provides 1 percent of the recommended daily intake, or RDI, for vitamin A and 2 percent for vitamin C. Besides having specific functions, the two nutrients are antioxidants, or substances that neutralize disease-causing molecules known as free-radicals. This serving also has five of the B-complex vitamins: 4 percent of the RDI for B-6, 1 percent for thiamine, 5 percent for riboflavin, 3 percent for niacin and 2 percent for folate. As a group, the B vitamins are essential for your digestive system to break foods down into energy.
Minerals
Prickly pears have almost all the essential minerals. One cup gives you 32 percent of the recommended daily intake for magnesium, 8 percent of calcium, 7 percent of potassium, 6 percent of copper, 4 percent of phosphorus, 2 percent of iron, and 1 percent of zinc and selenium. Minerals have different functions. Magnesium, for example, participates in more than 300 functions performed inside your body. The mineral makes it possible for your muscles to move, and it collaborates with calcium to give you strong bones.
Dietary Fiber
Your body needs dietary fiber for regular bowel movements. The roughage also helps to keep your cholesterol and glucose at normal levels. One cup of prickly pears contains 21 percent of the recommended daily intake for fiber.
Calories, Protein and Fat
One cup of nopal cactus fruit gives you 61 calories, which you can burn on a 13-minute moderate walk. The serving also has 2 percent of the recommended daily intake for protein and 1 percent for fat.
References
- University of California; "Prickly Pear Cactus Production"; Yvonne Savio; July 1989
- SkipThePie.org: Nutritional Info -- Prickly Pears, Raw
- MedlinePlus; "Vitamin A"; Alison Evert
- MedlinePlus; "Vitamin C"; Alison Evert et al.; February 15, 2011
- American Cancer Society: Vitamin B Complex
- Office of Dietary Supplements: Magnesium
- MedlinePlus; "Fiber"; Dr. Linda Vorvick et al.; July 22, 2010
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