Editing Cactus (section)

===Food===
[[File:Prickly pears.jpg|thumb|Peeled fruits of the [[Indian fig cactus]] of different varieties on sale in Mexico]]
The plant now known as ''[[Opuntia ficus-indica]]'', or the Indian fig cactus, has long been an important source of food. The original species is thought to have come from central Mexico, although this is now obscure because the indigenous people of southern North America developed and distributed a range of horticultural varieties ([[cultivar]]s), including forms of the species and hybrids with other opuntias. Both the fruit and pads are eaten, the former often under the Spanish name ''tuna'', the latter under the name ''[[nopal]]''. Cultivated forms are often significantly less spiny or even spineless.{{sfnp|ps=none|Anderson|2001|pp=51–54}} The nopal industry in Mexico was said to be worth US$150&nbsp;million in 2007.<ref name=Dani07/> The Indian fig cactus was probably already present in the Caribbean when the Spanish arrived, and was soon after brought to Europe. It spread rapidly in the Mediterranean area, both naturally and by being introduced—so much so, early botanists assumed it was native to the area. Outside the Americas, the Indian fig cactus is an important commercial crop in [[Sicily]], [[Algeria]] and other North African countries.<ref name=Grif04/> Fruits of other opuntias are also eaten, generally under the same name, ''tuna''. Flower buds, particularly of ''[[Cylindropuntia]]'' species, are also consumed.{{sfnp|ps=none|Anderson|2001|pp=57–58}}

Almost any fleshy cactus fruit is edible. The word ''[[pitaya]]'' or ''pitahaya'' (usually considered to have been taken into Spanish from Haitian creole<ref name=Collins/>) can be applied to a range of "scaly fruit", particularly those of columnar cacti. The fruit of the [[saguaro]] (''Carnegiea gigantea'') has long been important to the indigenous peoples of northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States, including the [[Sonoran Desert]]. It can be preserved by boiling to produce syrup and by drying. The syrup can also be fermented to produce an alcoholic drink. Fruits of ''Stenocereus'' species have also been important food sources in similar parts of North America; ''[[Stenocereus queretaroensis]]'' is cultivated for its fruit. In more tropical southern areas, the climber ''[[Selenicereus undatus]]'' provides ''pitahaya orejona'', now widely grown in Asia under the name dragon fruit. Other cacti providing edible fruit include species of  ''[[Echinocereus]]'', ''[[Ferocactus]]'', ''[[Mammillaria]]'', ''[[Myrtillocactus]]'', ''[[Pachycereus]]'', ''[[Peniocereus]]'' and ''[[Selenicereus]]''. The bodies of cacti other than opuntias are less often eaten, although Anderson reported that ''[[Neowerdermannia vorwerkii]]'' is prepared and eaten like potatoes in upland Bolivia.{{sfnp|ps=none|Anderson|2001|pp=55–59}}
{{center|'''Cacti as food'''}}
<gallery mode="packed" heights="155" style="font-size:95%; line-height:120%">
Saguaro gatherers2.jpg|Gathering [[saguaro]] fruit in 1907
Saguaro fruit.jpg|Edible fruit of the saguaro
Barrel Cactus Fruit cropped.jpg|Fruits of some ''[[Ferocactus]]'' are edible.
Dragonfruit Chiayi market.jpg|[[Pitaya|Dragon fruit]] for sale in Taiwan
Fruto de Stenocereus queretaroensis.jpg|Fruit prepared from ''[[Stenocereus queretaroensis]]''
Nopal11.jpg|Salad including sliced ''nopales'' ([[opuntia]] pads)
</gallery>

{{see also|List of edible cacti}}