Yes, you understood everything right - here in Cyprus, they eat cacti, or rather the fruits of cacti. This strange fruit is called prickly pear or babutsa and ripens annually. If you see green-purple oval spines in a store or market at the end of August, know that this is it.
For those who have not yet tasted the local delicacy - prickly pear tastes like cucumber, only with sourness, and is perfectly refreshing in the heat. It is necessary to clean the fruits of the cactus with gloves - otherwise, the little needles will injure all hands.
And most importantly - prickly pear is very useful. Cactus fruits contain vitamin C, carotene, rutin, flavonoids, cellulose, fats, magnesium, potassium, calcium, zinc, and iron. And in the flowers from which the fruits ripen, there are amino acids, antioxidants, nicotinic acid, rutin, and minerals - zinc, calcium, selenium, sodium, and magnesium.
They also use prickly pear for cosmetic purposes. For example, prickly pear face masks have a rejuvenating effect.
