Italy is the leading European producer of prickly pear and the third largest worldwide. With a total planted area of 7,000 hectares, Sicily leads 90% of the domestic production. In the past decade, the edibility, nutritional value, and usage of this exotic fruit has gained tremendous attention from buyers involved in different industries including food and supplements, medical and pharmaceutical as well as cosmetics.
Cacti plants are highly sustainable as it has little impact on the environment, requires very little water, and tolerates the recent drought better than most other crops. In fact, to produce one kg of fruit the plant needs about 20 litres of water per year. Italian prickly pear production is primarily sold domestically (65%) with the remaining volumes destined for export markets such as France, Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands. Market players should keep in mind that the sale of prickly pear for large-scale distribution requires a DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) certification.