Best edible cacti fruit.

[Stillman]

I've discussed this in depth with a few members privately. But for the greater masses, anyone eating cacti fruit? Obviously dragon fruits and cereus but what about Trichocereus, I've read Trichocereus spachianus have a decent taste. Any others of note.

[woof woof woof]

Stenocereus griseus,.... wouldnt say the best,... but pretty good in my opinion. fruity like dragon fruit. (slightly less but still sweet,..but then again there is allot a variety between hylocerei)

Subpilocereus repandus,... not so nice in taste,... starchy taste.... nutricous.

melocactus marcanthus is alright,.. bit of a fruity hint.

the pitaya's (dragon fruits) are awesome.

I recently ate some opuntia fruit.... not sure which one,... but they were nice too.... the seeds were much harder then the dragon fruit.

Hylocerues Megal... (shit forgot the name) but that fruit is also very very nice

Cant wait for my H. Polyrhizius to fruit. Still has an awefull lot to grow.

[cactus kate]

i have three fruiting opuntias also small cactus with fruit i usually eat them my self they are so yummy look like little chillis really nice and sweet ,though i do gather seed before eating cheers kate

[bogfrog]

You couldn't call them the best, but loph fruit (de-seeded of course), although teeny tiny taste nice, almost faintly of cherry

[shortly]

Several Mamms have edible fruit, sweet & tart all at the same time, chilitos is one name for them that springs to mind. My kids have become quite adept at extracting the sweet little red fruit from between the spines. Makes it bloody hard to get any seed.

Cereus jamacaru is very popular as a backyard fruit tree in Brazil

Epiphyllum fruit are small & edible, they range from bland to sweet and some tart, often with a fair bit of variation even in the same batch of seed.

Neoraimondia's are supposed to have the best tasting fruit of all cacti, in fact i had a Bolivian friend who said that caripari was one of the nicest of all fruits.

[Cereusly]

I haven't had it but selenicereus fruit. its also called dragon fruit or pitaya but I know there's dragon fruit that's sweet, dragon fruit thats sour, and I think there is dragon fruit that is neither and more like vegetable.

Has anyone had myrtillocactus fruit? They're more like berries.

[shortly]

geometrizansis tastes a lot like blueberry but with a vaguely nutty taste if/when you crush a seed or three.

I cant vouch for the other species of myrtillo but they have all been semi-cultivated as fruit trees/shrubs in the past.

Neobuxbaumia spp all produce edible fruit, apparently ranging from reasonable quality to excellent, i remember reading a supposedly traditional recipe for N.polylopha flowers stuffed with egg, foul meat & herbs.

Lets not forget Nopales, a bit destructive but quite tasty & even better if your lucky enough to score some burbanks spineless prickly pear.

[Micromegas]

If you can find and reach one to eat, absolutely the fruit of the Saguaro is unsurpassed amongst cactus fruit. Sweet and delicious there is no comparison with even the commercial dragonfruit (what I have tried at the supermarket anyway). It was harvested by tribes in the Sonoran desert with long poles and was a sacred delicacy in a difficult environment lacking in sweet foods.

[TheExplorer]

Has anyone here ever made, or attempted to make, colonche? I was looking at properties the other day (just window shopping mainly) and I saw this:

I was thinking if I had access to that many fruits it would be cool to do something with them.

[Stillman]

did you have a go at any fruit? the only thing about prickly pear that I hate is the glochids. I always mage to get them in my clothes and then your whole load of wahing will have the odd prickle to deal with. lol the gift that keeps giving.

[TheExplorer]

That's just a picture off the internet, I haven't actually been out to the property (it's in the middle of nowhere). But there's also a few big ones around where I live at the moment, so maybe I'll have a crack at making some colonche when I find some fruits. I have tried eating the fruit before though - it's nice but I still prefer dragonfruit (smaller seeds and nicer texture IMO).

Edited August 31, 2012 by TheExplorer

[shortly]

I use long BBQ tongs to pick pricklypear fruit & skewer them & pass through an open fire to deal with the glochids

Do you know how the Saguaro fruit are/were processed Micromegas? I mean they are a hard ball of spines filled with sweet sticky pulp, so how does one get past the spines to get at the sweetness?

[mushroomman]

I think the saguaro cactus fruit is relatively spineless ,are you thinking of pachycereus pringlei fruit?

[Sallubrious]

I mean they are a hard ball of spines filled with sweet sticky pulp, so how does one get past the spines to get at the sweetness?

 

That reminds me of one of my ex girlfriends.

She was a sucker for chocholate.

[shortly]

I think the saguaro cactus fruit is relatively spineless ,are you thinking of pachycereus pringlei fruit?

 

I probably am, now that i think of it i recall reading that all the pachy's have hedgehogs for fruit & probably all the Steno's as well.

[Micromegas]

You can just pull off the fruit and split it open and eat the inside. I don't think they were processed much just a delightful occasion during a certain time of the year.

Edited August 31, 2012 by Micromegas

[Halcyon Daze]

I had a red dragonfruit from the supermarket that had absolutely zero taste, but the dragonfruits I've grown, both red and yellow, were intensely sweet and delicious. Be sure to let them ripen on the vine, but they may get pecked by birds or rats etc so watch them closely.

Edited August 31, 2012 by Halcyon Daze

[Jox]

A little of track but what about edible cacti?

I was reading up on Ariocarpus agavoides & found it interesting that children in the town of Tula, Tamulipas, Mexico eat theses plants as a treat!

Apparently they are sweet & much sort after by the children.

[zelly]

I've been harvesting a storm of tricho fruit lately and the one thing I've noticed is they're extremely sweet, with some varieties much more

so than others.

You couldn't call them the best, but loph fruit (de-seeded of course), although teeny tiny taste nice, almost faintly of cherry

 

I kind of like the crunchy effect and was thinking about making a jar of loph preserves similar to strawberry jam.

[kadakuda]

for dragon fruit hte trick is to grow your own. they are like strawberries. commercially they are pumped up large to get more KGs adn they are picked early. home grown can be fed good nutrients adn picked when ripe. they are pretty sweet actually. purple is often sweeter than white.

myrtillocactus i like but too much work as they are small (for me as when i eat i want to do it fast and get it over with )

I lik eO. ficus indica fruits, when i go back to canada now and then i see them in boxes from mexico in the super market sometimes. Like $3 for a box of at elast 30, not bad. but the big seeds make it a treat not a food in my mind.

O. coch. and dillenii are used here for dye adn food/drink coloring. nothign much to eat, but good color. so is red/purple hylocereus.

other than that i have nto tried any others i would consider a food. but lots are tasty though,

Saguaro fruit sounds great, wishi had some to try

[bogfrog]

I kind of like the crunchy effect and was thinking about making a jar of loph preserves similar to strawberry jam.

 

Lol, here we all are buying and sowing loph seeds and you'll be crunching them up with your morning toast!

...Gettin loph seed stuck in your teeth.. The trails of life for an expert cacti grower aye?

[mutant]

Awesome subject. I really want to try Myrtillocactus fruit some day.

Prickly pear there's a lot of naturalised plants here, all give fruits.

I haven't tried it yet, in some places in greece they make jam or other sweets with it, or just eat it cool. They say you got to learn the technique to open them without getting stuck in the glochids.

I have only tasted Cereus once. Pretty sweet and exotic flavour.

Still haven't tried a dragon fruit

[goneski]

Is it possible to buy prickly pear?

I've never seen it despite trying several grocers. I'd love some to give to my bearded dragons as

They go nuts over it apparently.. Or even experiment with other cacti fruit.

[Stillman]

I've seen it at markets and at fruit stalls on the side of the high way. It really is evil stuff to candle so I imagine you won't see it at the big fruit shops or chain supermarkets, plus I'm not sure how well it stores after ripening and picking. I imagine fresh is better.

[prier]

oh man, where to begin. some mini cacti have yummy fruits. mamms, melos, lophs, epithelantha, just off the top of my head. for bigger things tricho and cereus are great. i am partiularly fond of tricho candicans, huge fruits crunchy a little sweet. but most of the cacti fruits are pretty insipid i must say.

prickly pears are all in the timing of the harvest. leave em too long and the seeds become huge and annoying.

and it just goes without saying that dragonfruit is da bomb