But recently, with the understanding of nutrition, many localities have grown cacti and have many ways to prepare valuable “specialties” and “functional foods”. price from this plant.
Overview
Nopal cactus (nõpalli means pad), often called rabbit ear cactus, belongs to the Opuntia family and is a type of bone. Edible dragons grow naturally in abundance in the deserts of northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States. For a long time, residents here have used this Nopal cactus to raise animals as food and medicine…so the Nopal cactus is also a cultural symbol of the American Far West.
< p style="text-align:justify"> The Nopal cactus is a very “easy-going” plant: a desert plant with a suitable morphology such as having a thick layer of waxy leaves to prevent dehydration from the branches. Leaves contain a large amount of parenchyma that acts as a “water tank” for active chlorophyll tissue that can grow and develop in desert sand on arid lands and poor nutrient-poor soils with some rainfall. extremely low. In Mexico, many serious scientific studies show that if well cared for, fertilized and watered adequately like other food crops, Nopal cactus has a very high yield that can reach 100-120 tons/hectare.
Delicious food
Almost all types of cacti can all be used as food. Nopal foods belong to two families: Opuntia and Nopalea. In Mexico, people find up to 24 species, of which 15 species are used to raise livestock, 6 species are used for fruit and nuts, and 3 species are used as vegetables for humans (Opuntia ficusindica Opuntia robusta and Nopalea cochellinifera), but to achieve high productivity, men The most commonly grown in America is the Nopal cactus type Opuntia ficus-indica.
In Mexico, Nopal cactus is often sold as fresh fruits and vegetables; canned or dried form mainly for export abroad. Statistics show that a Mexican person consumes an average of 6.4 kilograms of cacti each year. Many Mexican dishes and drinks use Nopal cactus as an ingredient such as: huevos con nopales (eggs with nopal) carne con nopales (meat with nopal) tacos de nopales (nopal crispy bread) salads de nopales (salads nopal) Nopalea (nopal drink).etc
In Vietnam, many places like Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, many housewives also know how to prepare cacti by stir-frying and cooking soup to make hot pot… creating dozens of dishes. Delicious food that suits your taste, some places even call it a local “specialty”.
Especially the fatty oil in cactus seeds contains high-value unsaturated fatty acids that have many applications in food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
Scientists at Hanoi University of Science and Technology and Ho Chi Minh City National University have extracted essential oils from seeds. Nopal cactus grown in Ninh Hai district, Ninh Thuan province shows that the content of unsaturated fatty acids in Nopal cactus is quite high from 63 62 – 69 06%. Compare with oils in other seeds: corn oil (59%) sesame oil (45%) cottonseed oil (49-58%) soybean oil (51%) sunflower seed oil (68%) dahlia seed oil (78%) palm oil (10%) poppy seed (70%) grape seed (73%)…An interesting thing is that the concentration of this unsaturated fatty acid equivalent to Tunisian cacti is much higher than that of German and Chinese cactus seed oil.
Precious medicine
Because it is a type of vegetable, Nopal cactus contains a lot of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, trace minerals, and is also used to prepare some special medicines and foods to support the treatment of diabetes. blood lipid disorders alcohol poisoning diarrhea viral infections laxatives prostate fibroids…
Also because of the many pectin and mucilage fibers, Nopal cactus is a very good functional food to combine for overweight, obese and diabetic patients. According to many scientific studies in Mexico, foods prepared with Nopal cactus have the ability to significantly reduce blood sugar and increase blood insulin in type 2 diabetes patients.
According to many researchers, Nopal cactus is the only plant that has all 24 types of betalains available. Betalains are polyphenolic pigment compounds in sugar beets and some other plants; The red-purple or yellow-orange color of Nopal cactus is due to these betalains. Many scientific journals demonstrate the very good pharmacological effects of Nopal cactus: (1) Studies by the US NIH National Institute of Medicine concluded that Nopal is very good for obese and diabetic people. dyslipidemia; (2) Studies at the Faculty of Pharmacy at Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, Korea, published in the journal Fitoterapia (2001), showed a very strong anti-inflammatory effect of Nopal extract; (3) Studies published in the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry (2002) USA, betalains of Nopal cactus have the effect of removing excess free radicals and are strong antioxidants; (4) Studies by the University of Palermo (2004) published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, USA, confirm the antioxidant capacity of Nopal cactus; (5) USDA Prevention Magazine (2006) Nopal cactus is a very good antioxidant, a “superfruit” not inferior to berries; (6) Many scientific works of many famous pharmaceutical companies such as Desert Bloom Inc Sonoran Bloom (USA) Nopalea Bloom (Mexico) … have proven that: extracts from Nopal cactus also have the effect of increasing resistance. immune support for liver function…
Conclusion
In Vietnam there is also a native rabbit ear cactus that grows naturally; Farmers also use it for livestock but are not in the habit of using it as food for humans. The American Nopal cactus was introduced and researched in 2002 at the Center for Experimental Biology. Currently, we have successfully propagated Nopal cactus using two methods of tissue culture and branching technique. According to Master Dang Thu Hang, Experimental Biology Center, Institute of Technology Application, Ministry of Science and Technology, from 2003-2005 Nopal cactus was cultured and propagated and put into experimental planting; In 2006-2007, the Center planted trials in Binh Phuoc and Ba Ria-Vung Tau. According to Dr. Le Cong Nong, Deputy Director of the Institute of Cotton Research and Agricultural Development (NCB-PTNN) of Ho Ninh Thuan Department (2007), the institute has successfully selected and tested 19 types of food cacti including 10 varieties. for animal feed, 6 varieties for vegetable food and 6 varieties for fruit. According to Dr. Phan Quoc Anh, in early 2009, the Regional Research and Development Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology approved the project “Receiving and assessing the adaptability of imported varieties and researching and developing Nopal cactus in Ninh Thuan” led by Associate Professor Dr. Le Tat Khuong presided. According to Nguyen Thi Ngoc Mai Luong Thi Loan Institute of Soils and Agrochemicals (2010), currently we have bred 15 types of Nopal cacti including 7 types of Nopal vegetables, 5 types of Nopal fruit and 3 types of Nopal as food for livestock. . The Institute for Research and Technology Application of the Ministry of Science and Technology has also had a trial project of growing Nopal cactus on the Truong Sa archipelago to make green vegetables for the soldiers. The initial results were very positive, the cactus lived and grew well up to 90%. .
With the S-shaped country, the Central region is like a beam carrying two baskets of rice in the Red River Delta and Mekong River Delta at both ends. Finding what plants to grow in the dry and rocky Central region is an important agricultural problem. Especially in dry, sunny and windy areas with too much rain and too little rain such as Khanh Hoa, Binh Dinh and Ninh Thuan with livestock herds of more than a million and growing rapidly at 20-25% per year; Therefore, the demand for animal feed is very large, especially in the 6 months of the dry season. Meanwhile, the South Central region has hundreds of thousands of hectares of land lacking irrigation water and at risk of desertification.
Think that along with the Nopal cactus neem tree are good plants for cultivation in dry areas. In addition to providing food for livestock, green vegetables and medicine for humans, cacti also cover sandy soil to prevent erosion and contribute to improving rare underground water sources.
Dr. Tran Ba Thoai
Member Executive Committee of Vietnam Endocrine Association
“
