I have no idea what you're talking about but it sounds interesting - please tell me more. Suzanne

The hard seeds always get in the way of my enjoyment of tunas too. They are very zingy and tasty though.

Here is a link that might be useful: prickly pear fruit

Red cactus pears will make the prettiest translucent red jelly you will ever see and the taste is divine also.

LOL!! I know prickly pear - I never heard of it being called Tuna before. Now I know that too, thanks!

Suzanne

Suzanne, the prickly pear flowers and produces a fruit that is called Tuna. It is edible and sold in many farmers markets. I just tried it for the first time and it was good tasting, just lots of little seeds. I am growing one with lots of fruit coming on it now.

Tuna has started to come into season here in CA. I recently have been enjoying some different varieties, the first pic is store bought. It was a little larger than a golfball, nice rich watermelon taste with mullberry undertones.
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second ones were collected from a large patch of unirrigated land. The size of baseballs, nice taste but more mild. Will probably go back and collect some pads, maybe some more fruit for jelly?
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great link Treefrog

-Ethan

Ummmm...why are they being called "tuna?" I've always heard of prickly pears, cactus pads, cactus fruit, prickly pears fruit, and cactus pears. Never heard the term "tuna" applied to them. I'd be afraid to taste them with that name! It doesn't sound like they would be sweet, which I always heard they were. Curious!

Marcia

I'm wondering too, Marcia. The "Florida's Best Fruiting Plants" book says tuna is the Spanish name. My first guess was that it came from the Latin "Opuntia," but that's a stretch. Ana, my wife, who is Spanish, just looked it up in her dictionary. She says that tuna comes from the taino language, from the original inhabitants of the Dominican Republic and a few other islands.

I've been wanting try growing these things for some time now. I've never tasted one though. Maybe my corner fruit stand will get them . . .

Bill

Bill, they were tasty, but loaded with hard little seeds. I finally just swallowed them. I am growing the green one and not long from now they should be ripe and I'll let you know how I like them. It was the red one I bought and ate. I wouldn't mind growing the red too.

Is this anything like "A Fish Called Wanda"???

OOEEE ....They look wonderful! Where can I buy the plants. I live in Auburndale[ polk county ]. I want to buy a prickly pear and a dragon fruit. A longan and lychee trees. Also black pepper plant. The only place I have found them is the Pine Island Nursery but they are too expensive...I bought one of their papaya trees at Lowes for $15 and the same one on line is much more. However I can't find a super store like, Lowes or Homedepot that carries the exotics.
Any suggestions?
I am a senior on a fixed income who is absolute passioned by the tropical fruits here in Florida,after living in Washinton state for over 55 years. I have already bought a papaya and a banana tree and planted two pineapples.
Thank yall

Hey smittee - I have some Key Lime seedlings to stir your love and passion about plants. Want a couple? Sour citrus is generally true from seed and I would be glad to share.

Smittee, hang around here long enough, and someone will offer you seeds, cuttings or small plants to trade or just because they are giving extras away. Sooner or later, you'll see just about everything you could ask for.

Good luck!

Bill, your thoughts on the "tuna" name make as much sense as anything else, I reckon. I sure never heard it before, so another day at G-Web where I have learned something new! Happens all the time around here!

Marcia

Smitty, check out your local farmers markets and some of the super markets too carry the prickly pear cactus padle. Get as fresh a one as you can find and take it home and plant it. It will root and you are on your way. Once it flowers the bugs will do the rest and you'll have the fruit called tuna. ;o)

Thanks, Katkin. I'm going to be looking for them--and also for a pad to try to root. That's a really good idea.

One thing I have always wondered about eating prickly pears...how do you avoid the spines that are left on the fruit? Do you cut it in half, like in the picture above and use a spoon to scoop out the flesh? Even small cactus spines are miserable if you get stuck by one or get it embedded in your finger.

Just curious...can't believe I've never even bothered to try one!

Marcia

hello Manature,
the store bought ones are already prepared, but generally using tongs, hold the fruit over an open flame and burn off the spines (glochoids). Even if you are used to dealing with cacti, do this step, pulling an invisible spine from your tongue is difficult.

Smittee, if you are unable to locate any on your coast, let me know and I'll mail some seeds to you. I think if you click on my name, my email shows up.

-Ethan

When I cut the fruit in half, the outter shell peeled off. Maybe because it was all ready burned over a flame. The one I am growing is called spinless. It does have some, but way less.

So you are supposed to eat the skin, too, and not just the fleshy inside part?? I think this might be why I've never had the nerve to try them!

Marcia

No, you don't eat the skin, just the fleshy part inside. It is like a hard outer skin that you peel off.

Ooooh, okay, I get it. Thanks, Katkin!

Marcia