Cactus yields raw material for new beverage
Water, water, everywhere, from any source you can think: The latest entrant into the natural water wars is Nopal, a water sourced from moisture taken from the ripe fruit of prickly pear cactus. Like other such water sources (maple water, for example), this one is very faintly sweet. Prickly pear fruit is traditionally harvested and made into syrup by members of the Tohono O’Odham tribe and other native peoples of the Sonoran Desert (the fruit of other cactus species, such as Saguaro, is harvested, too). True Me Brands, the Scottsdale, AZ firm responsible for Nopal water, sources its cactus in northern Mexico. The product has about half the calories of its closest competitor, coconut water, and provides antioxidant benefits, according to the manufacturer.