Harry
That was a green Mexican Prickly Pear. They are a top candidate for the the worst fruit! The red ones are much better but those green ones you mentioned were hideous!
NR
Does not matter on the color, of the fruit. The Brix can be high on some of the green varieties as well. However the Yellow/Red are known to be much sweeter. I recently obtained a collection of pads from the Grin system. Most of the fruits I collected have Brix recorded over 13.
If you hate seeds, Prickly Pear fruit will offend. Prickly pear shines as a processed fruit; juices, jams, wines, smoothies. Easy way to get rid of the gochids is to hold over a fire or gas stove with tongs rotate until most the gochids burn off. Then power wash the fruit in a sieve. Or you can power wash throughly in a sieve.
Prickly Pear is a superfruit, it has Omega 3s &6s in the seeds, the seeds are also packed with protein, essential fatty acids, vitamin e, and other really good stuff. The fruit flesh is also a good. The native americans made a nutritious flour out of the prickly pear seeds.
Best way to get the health benefits and ease of use, throw the fruit in a high quality blender like a Blendtech and make a smoothie.
I ate an opuntia fruit on the banks of the Tamoka river ...it was horrible tasting, and the glochids all got in my gums and throat!
Stupidest thing I ever tasted!
Sorry to hear about that, most wild forms of Prickly pear have extreme amount of glochids and don't taste sweet. Don't feel bad, because when I first tried a fresh Prickly Pear, it was off a trail in Southern California... I picked with bare hands and split it open. Me and my GF both got glochids on the hands and lips. Taste was ok though. That was about 6 years ago or so... Since then I became sort of a Opuntia collector lol.
I don't think there is any fruiting plant that is as usable and care free as Opuntia ficus-indica (Until proven otherwise). I would put it on the top of my list for a way to supplement the diet with a healthy vegetable and fruiting plant.