Everything about Nopales totally explained
Nopales are a
vegetable made from the young
stem segments of
prickly pear, carefully peeled to remove the
spines. They are particularly common in their native
Mexico. Farmed nopales are most often of the species
Opuntia ficus-indica, although the pads of almost all
Opuntia species are edible.
Nopales are generally sold fresh or
canned, less often
dried to prepare
nopalitos. They have a light, slightly tart flavor, and a crisp,
mucilaginous texture.
Nopales are commonly used in
Mexican cuisine in dishes such as
huevos con nopales (
eggs with nopal), or "
tacos de nopales". Nopales are also an important ingredient in
New Mexican cuisine, and are gaining popularity elsewhere in the
United States.
Health benefits
Nopales are very rich in insoluble and especially soluble
dietary fiber. They are also rich in
vitamins (especially
vitamin A,
vitamin C, and
vitamin K, but also
riboflavin and
vitamin B6) and
minerals (especially
magnesium,
potassium, and
manganese, but also
iron and
copper). Nopales have a high
calcium content, but the nutrient isn't biologically available because it's present as
calcium oxalate, which is neither highly soluble nor easily absorbed through the intestinal wall.
Addition of nopales also reduces the
glycemic effect of a mixed meal.
Economic value
According to Reuters, some 10,000 farmers cultivate nopal in Mexico, producing around $150 million worth of it each year. Detection of the cactus-eating moth
Cactoblastis cactorum in Mexico in 2006 caused anxiety among the country's phytosanitary authorities, as this insect can be potentially devastating for the cactus industry.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Nopales'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://nopal.totallyexplained.com">Nopal Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
