In Shanghai, people are already eating cacti from flower pots

Editor's note: Calendar Girl recently received a reader submission. The author's friend in Shanghai started eating cactus during home quarantine. Is this prickly plant really edible? But how to eat it?

The whole city was under quarantine. On the way to get nucleic acid, I heard a rustling sound coming from the green belt. Apparently, there was a large creature moving around inside. I was shocked. Has the quarantine reached the point where wild animals have begun to occupy human communities? Then I saw the son of the neighbor downstairs, holding a few bamboo shoots and jumping out. I really never thought that the green belt could be used in this way.

As a senior engineer who has been in charge of greening for more than ten years, I have always disliked this mixed bamboo and wood green belt. The bamboo and trees are intertwined and look very chaotic. But when I saw the children happily digging out the bamboo shoots feast from it, I suddenly wanted to praise them: well planted!

I had just praised my neighbor for his self-reliance and resourcefulness in eating the green belt, when I saw the winner in the circle of friends - someone cooked the cactus at home, and the technique was very professional.

A whole patch of cactus｜Cui Ba

Removing cactus areoles - highly specialized axillary or lateral buds | Cuiba

After the cactus is cleaned and cut into strips, mucus will immediately ooze out｜Cui Ba

Scrambled eggs with cactus strips｜Cui Ba

The cactus is covered with thorns, which are not only prickly to the hands but also very prickly to the mouth. Generally speaking, China is a vast country with abundant resources, and the Chinese people don't eat it very much. If you ask my friend Cuiba why he had the courage to eat such a fierce plant, it is because this cactus was originally prepared for eating.

It is said that when Cuiba went to Hainan in 2019, he encountered a spectacular cactus bush on the beach, which was full of tempting red fruits. Cuiba, who knew the goods, picked a few and ate them. It was indeed sweet and sour. He brought back a piece and planted it in a flowerpot, waiting for it to bloom and bear fruit.

Cactus bushes by the sea｜Cui Ba

Eating cactus prickly pear while watching the sea｜Cui Ba

At this time, some people usually say that wild plants cannot be collected casually. Please rest assured that in our country, wild cacti are not really wild plants. Why is this? Because cacti are native to Central and South America, there are no naturally distributed cacti in China. Those that appear in the wild are all ornamental cultivation or seeds that escaped into the wild and reproduced on their own.

There is a cactus valley in Chawalung, Tibet. Under the snow-capped mountains, there are cactus forests all over the mountains. They have grown for more than a hundred years. They are all tree-like cacti taller than people. They are all formed by wild cacti. It’s just that the local dry and hot valley climate is more popular with cacti, so they spread and occupied the valley.

Cactus Valley in Chawalung Area｜Main News in Tibet

The cactus that I immigrated to Shanghai also grew very fast, but it never bloomed and bore fruit. The pandemic hit, and my family was in short supply of leafy vegetables. The cactus I had raised for a long time didn't bear fruit, and it was green, tender and juicy, so I decided to sharpen my knife and cut the cactus.

Regarding whether the cactus is delicious, Cuiba's actual evaluation is that it is slightly sour and sticky, but there is no other bad feeling. I think his cactus should have a sense of crisis and bloom a little bit, otherwise the next plate will soon be in the pot.

Cactus with scrambled eggs｜Cui Ba

Is cactus really edible?

Many species of cactus are actually edible. In Central and South America, where cactus is native, it is a popular and common food.

How common is it? Just like Chinese cabbage, radish and winter melon in our country, it has been on the table since ancient times, and it is still produced on a large scale today. It is a very common vegetable variety. On the Mexican table, cactus will appear from morning to night.

Cacti for sale in Mexican markets | happysleepy.com

Cactus plantations in Mexico | Tomas Bravo/REUTERS

As for why the residents of the New World love to eat something that looks prickly, the picture below can explain the problem very well. Because the geographical environment and climate of Central and South America are really suitable for cacti. Look at the cacti all over the mountains. Other vegetables may not survive. As the saying goes, live by the mountain, eat by the mountain; live by the water, eat by the water. Then live by the palm, eat by the palm, it makes sense.

Cacti all over the mountains in a Mexican park｜BongoInc/flickr

How to eat cactus?

Eat prickly pear

Although cactus is prickly, its fruit is often sweet and juicy with few thorns, making it very suitable for eating raw. This berry is called prickly pear because of its prickly surface and pear shape.

Generally speaking, most species of thorn pears from the genera Pereskia, Opuntia, and Hylocereus are delicious. The red and white dragon fruits we often eat are all thorn pears from the genus Hylocereus. The smaller cactus fruits that can be bought in China, like the ones that Cui Dad eats, are basically thorn pears from the genus Opuntia.

Be sure to remove the thorns carefully before eating sea buckthorn, especially the sea buckthorn from the cactus family. The tiny thorns are difficult to remove once they pierce the skin.

Rosa roxburghii｜Geoff R. Nichols

Eat cactus palm

The "palm" of the cactus, the part that looks like a leaf, is a fleshy stem that has adapted to the desert environment. The fleshy stem is thick and juicy, and is a popular healthy food in Europe and the United States. It is rich in dietary fiber such as pectin and hemicellulose, as well as multiple vitamins and minerals. Before eating, you need to cut off the clusters of small spikes on the stem. These are the leaves of the cactus that have adapted to the arid environment and are in a degraded state, and are specifically used to defend against predators.

Cactus palm | Razi Marysol Machay/flickr

The cactus without the thorns is suitable for almost all cooking methods in Central and South American recipes: it can be served cold, boiled, grilled, and fried in traditional Chinese cuisine. It can even be squeezed into juice, made into jam, pickles, and cakes. Of course, the most popular way for local people to eat it is the Mexican meat sandwich - TACO.

Cactus Salad | Hank Shaw

Whole cactus stems | Mely Martinez

Seeing this, please be sure to control yourself and don’t rush to reach out to the cactus plants in your home, because not all cacti are edible!

Inedible cactus

Cactus is actually a general term for the Cactaceae family. Not all cacti are palms, and not all cacti have thorns. Some people say that it is better to have no thorns, which makes it easier to eat. This is not necessarily true. If you come across a naturally thornless cactus, would you like to try it?

Well, my answer is it’s best not to. Delicious plants without any physical protection are likely to have chemical protection, which is usually what we call poisonous, which is much more serious than pricking your mouth.

Generally speaking, the organisms on Earth have evolved together and have reached a good understanding. Although plants cannot move and seem weak and vulnerable, they have evolved many effective defenses, including the use of animals. Most fruits are sweet and sour, and they are meant to get animals to help spread their seeds. But the plants themselves do not welcome being eaten, and they have evolved a variety of defenses against predation.

Peyote cactus | Tenda and Head/wikimedia

Poisonous cactus

Naturally thornless cactus plants may contain highly toxic alkaloids. Some species of Lophophora, Ariocarpus, Trichocereus, and Pelecyphora can produce hallucinogenic and anesthetic effects after consumption, and in severe cases can even endanger human life.

This hallucinogenic effect has long been known to the indigenous people of South America, who have used peyote for more than 7,000 years. The Indians regarded peyote as a sacred plant, believing that spirits lived in it. In religious activities, dried peyote was eaten as a sacrament. People believed that the hallucinations produced after eating it were communication with their guardian spirits, which could give them courage and keep them away from danger.

Richard Evans Schultes, the father of ethnobotany, recorded in his book Plants of the Gods that a plant called Peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii) was the most hallucinogenic plant encountered by Spanish conquerors, and the psychedelic state could last for 2-3 days. Peyote cactus was widely used by different Indian tribes because of its outstanding hallucinogenic effect.

Chacruna｜Stacy B. Schaefer/Chacruna

The San Pedro cactus (Trichocereus pachanoi) and the Peruvian torch cactus (Trichocereus peruvianus) of the genus Trichocereus also have high alkaloid content and are also commonly used plants in shamanic rituals in South America.

After European colonists arrived in the New World, they tried to eradicate this illegal custom of collective drug use, but the Peyote worship still thrived among American Indian tribes and spread to the North American continent and has persisted to this day. Its addictive nature is beyond doubt.

It should be noted that Peyote was listed in the IUCN Red List in 2009 as Vulnerable (VU). Therefore, if anyone other than the indigenous people collects or trades wild plants, will it be punished? Yes, it is.

Illustration of the 1847 kurobuta jade｜Alamy Stock Photo

In 1897, German pharmacologist Arthur Heffter isolated mescaline from Peyote, thus revealing the cause of the hallucinations of Peyote. Mescaline is a hallucinogenic alkaloid, a member of the phenylethylamine family of drugs. As long as about 300-500 mg of mescaline is ingested, visual hallucinations will occur for 6 to 8 hours, and occasionally olfactory or auditory hallucinations, split personality, and anxiety and depression symptoms will occur.

The center is a pattern based on the Peyote cactus｜Stacy Schaefer

Unlike the respect that Li Shizhen gained from tasting hundreds of herbs, Heffter gained the reputation of "psychiatrist" and "drug and alcoholism" by experiencing mescaline himself. From the records of "psychiatrist" Heffter, the effect of consuming mescaline can be seen from a more intuitive perspective. Within 30 minutes to an hour after consuming Peyote, there will be some physical discomfort, such as nausea, bloating, sweating or chills. After 3 hours, there will be visual hallucinations with enhanced or distorted colors. Even with closed eyes, you can feel colorful stripes lingering in front of your eyes. After about 4 hours, you will completely lose your sense of time.

Mescaline is considered a drug in modern society, so, except for the Indians, is it punishable for other people to eat this cactus? That is equivalent to asking whether drug use is punishable? Therefore, eating thornless cactus containing mescaline is not only unhealthy, but also illegal.

As a member of the Earth's biosphere, we humans also need to reach a sufficient understanding with plants. In order to avoid unnecessary risks, we generally do not eat unfamiliar plants. After all, there must be a way to eat a plant. The problem is: some plants can be eaten multiple times, while others can only be eaten once.

Author: Plant Design Lion

Editor: Monica, Mai Mai

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

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