Prickly pear
Prickly pear is Opuntia ficus-indica, a cactus grown in Mexico, the Mediterranean, North Africa and other dry regions for its fruit and its flat stem pads (cladodes, or nopales). Ingredients include fruit juice and juice powder, freeze-dried or spray-dried fruit powder, seed oil, and dried, milled cladode powder or extracts. Fruit and pad products have different compositions, so the plant part belongs on the specification.
Suppliers sell different products under the same name. Specify the one you need.
Juice or concentrate from the fruit, often red or purple from betalain pigments, sold by Brix.
Spray-dried or freeze-dried fruit or juice, usually with a carrier on spray-dried grades.
Dried, milled stem pads for fiber-rich powders, capsules and blends.
Water extract of the pads, sometimes sold on polysaccharide or fiber content.
Cold-pressed oil from the seeds, mostly for cosmetic use.
Compare each result with your own specification when the lot arrives.
Keep powders sealed in moisture-proof, light-blocking packaging in a cool, dry place; fruit powders cake quickly and betalain color fades with heat, light and oxygen. Juice concentrates should be kept chilled or frozen per the supplier's spec. Shelf life is set by the supplier's specification, with color, moisture and micro rechecked at retest.
Fruit color, sugar content and fiber levels vary with variety, origin and harvest, so record plant part, origin and the key composition results for each lot and rotate colored products first-expired, first-out.
Facts from regulators and standards bodies, each linked to its source.
The EU Novel Food status Catalogue entry for Opuntia ficus-indica (POL-NF-00549) concerns only juice from the fruits and cladodes (platiclades) and lists it as not novel in food.
Source: ec.europa.eu (opens in a new tab)A Health Canada multi-ingredient natural health product monograph lists Opuntia ficus-indica, with the common name prickly-pear, with the fruit and leaf as source parts.
Source: webprod.hc-sc.gc.ca (opens in a new tab)This is general information, not regulatory advice. Status differs by country and by how the ingredient is used, so check the rules for your product and market.
Manufacturers and distributors whose own websites say they sell it.
Manufacturer · Belpasso, Italy
Sells it as mucosave fg
Bionap is a Sicilian producer of standardized extracts from Mediterranean plants and fruits, such as artichoke leaf, bergamot juice, prickly pear cladodes, olive leaf and mullein, for supplement, personal care and animal health makers.
Manufacturer · Rouen, France
Sells it as Neopuntia
Nexira is a French family-owned maker of acacia gum, other natural gums and plant extract powders, including acerola, baobab, guarana, ginseng and mushroom extracts, for food, drink and supplement companies.
Suppliers are in alphabetical order and none pays to appear. Each claim is checked against the supplier’s own website on the date shown. Ask for the specification sheet and a recent COA before you order, and confirm details with the supplier.
Common forms include fruit juice and concentrate, fruit powder, cladode (nopal) powder, cladode extract and seed oil. Ask each supplier for the specification sheet of the exact grade they quote.
Expect identity, composition, moisture, heavy metals, microbiology and pesticide residues, each with its method, specification and result for that lot.
Keep powders sealed in moisture-proof, light-blocking packaging in a cool, dry place; fruit powders cake quickly and betalain color fades with heat, light and oxygen. Juice concentrates should be kept chilled or frozen per the supplier's spec. Shelf life is set by the supplier's specification, with color, moisture and micro rechecked at retest.
The EU Novel Food status Catalogue entry for Opuntia ficus-indica (POL-NF-00549) concerns only juice from the fruits and cladodes (platiclades) and lists it as not novel in food. A Health Canada multi-ingredient natural health product monograph lists Opuntia ficus-indica, with the common name prickly-pear, with the fruit and leaf as source parts.
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