Opuntia phaeacantha | Brown-spined prickly pear | Edible and Medicinal Uses

Gallery botanic

View photos of the edible and medicinal cactus Opuntia phaeacantha (Brown-spined prickly pear), profiled in Sonoran Desert Food Plants and Medicinal Plants of the American Southwest (as Opuntia spp.).

Opuntia phaeacantha | Brown-spined prickly pear | Edible Uses — Opuntia phaeacantha (Brown-spined prickly pear)

Opuntia phaeacantha | Brown-spined prickly pear | Medicinal Uses — Opuntia phaeacantha (Brown-spined prickly pear)

A passage from Medicinal Plants of the American Southwest:

Several ounces of pulp mixed with a small amount of water has a cooling effect on esophageal and stomach irritations, be they from acid reflux or gastritis. This antiinflammatory effect soothes irritated gastric membranes. Not only does Prickly pear mucilage serve as a protectant to damaged stomach lining, it also has the ability of augmenting the quality of gastric mucus making it useful as a stomach ulcer healer.

Author, Researcher, Clinician. Latest titles: Wild Edible Plants of Oklahoma, 2nd ed., Wild Edible Plants of Arizona, 2nd ed., and Wild Edible Plants of Arkansas, 2nd. ed.