Can you eat a cactus

Answer 1

Yes, many of the fruits can be eaten fresh. For example, the yellow fruit of the prickly pear [Opuntia spp] has the sweetest flavor of the cactus fruit's color range. It's eaten fresh. Additionally, other body parts also can be eaten. For example, the prickly pear cactus' jointed pads may be peeled and boiled, to make Mexico's popular nopalitos. In the way of another example, the flesh of the candy barrel cactus [Ferocactus wislizeni] may be made up into sugary candies.

But whatever the cactus or the cactus body part, it's important to remove the plant's modified leaves. The modified leaves take the shape of thorns, spines, spikes, quills, prongs, needles, hairs, or bristles. Even the smallest, shortest, or finest of these modified leaves and modified leaf parts can be irritating if not downright painful to bite into, chew, and swallow.