Prickly Pear Potential

Exploring prickly pear cactus for climate-resilient agriculture, food innovation, rural economies & bio-based products.

[Prickly Pear Potential @PrcklyPotential]

🌵Meet the team!

Dr. Shannon Combest, Extension Food Specialist at @txextension and @TAMUFSTC brings food processing and safety expertise and a passion for mentoring future food scientists.

#USDA #NIFAimpacts @USDA_NIFA @aglifesciences @AgriLife @txresearch

[Prickly Pear Potential @PrcklyPotential]

🌵Meet the team!

Dr. Robert Strong, a @TAMU professor, explores how communication and consumer decisions shape the adoption of prickly pear as a resilient crop.

#USDA #NIFAimpacts @USDA_NIFA @aglifesciences
@txextension @AgriLife @txresearch @ALECaggies

[Prickly Pear Potential @PrcklyPotential]

🌵Meet the team!

Dr. Marco Palma, Regents Professor and Director of the Human Behavior Laboratory at @TAMU, leads our consumer behavior research so #pricklypear works for growers and consumers alike.

#USDA #NIFA @USDA_NIFA @aglifesciences
@txextension @AgriLife @txresearch

[Prickly Pear Potential @PrcklyPotential]

🌵 Meet our PI, Dr. Susanne Talcott! A @TAMUFSTC professor, she leads the Cactus Project team exploring prickly pear’s potential for food ingredients and renewable fuels.

#USDA #NIFA @USDA_NIFA @TAMU @aglifesciences @txextension @AgriLife @txresearch

[Prickly Pear Potential @PrcklyPotential]

🌵Prickly pear pads and fruit can become nopalitos, lemonade, syrups, and jellies (https://t.co/oTkkkQdUa7). These uses help show why exploring cactus’s food potential matters!
#USDA #NIFA @USDA_NIFA @TAMU @aglifesciences
@txextension @AgriLife @txresearch @tamusoilcrop
@TAMUFSTC

[Prickly Pear Potential @PrcklyPotential]

🌵Harvest is underway! Some plots are approaching 4–5 tons of dry biomass per acre. Promising early results as we explore PPC's production potential. Stay tuned for more!

#USDA #NIFA @USDA_NIFA @TAMU @aglifesciences @txextension @AgriLife @txresearch @tamusoilcrop @TAMUFSTC

[Prickly Pear Potential @PrcklyPotential]

🌵Presented by PhD student Armaghan Amanipour at the 2026 IFANCA FDIP Symposium, this study identified three Bacillus strains that grow on cactus mucilage, highlighting its #potential for creating value-added food ingredients.

@USDA_NIFA @TAMU @AgriLife @TAMUFSTC @aglifesciences

[Prickly Pear Potential @PrcklyPotential]

🌵🖐We've been getting our hands dirty for #science. Our team has been sampling soil in prickly pear fields to study soil health and root microbes in dryland farming!

#PricklyPearPotential #SoilScience #resillience @TamuAgrilife @txresearch @txextension @TAMU @tamusoilcrop

[Prickly Pear Potential @PrcklyPotential]

🌵These 3D-printed cacti and puzzles, created by Dr. Susanne Talcott, help us introduce our work to stakeholders and communities and start conversations about #pricklypearcactus as a crop and food source.

@NifaUsda @TAMU @aglifesciences @AgriLife @txextension

[Prickly Pear Potential @PrcklyPotential]

🌵This prickly pear cactus purée liquefaction trial is part of our work to explore new possibilities for value-added processing. Follow along to watch how it's done!

#USDA #NIFA @USDA_NIFA @TAMU @AgriLife

https://t.co/GcJ2ThaJ3q

[Prickly Pear Potential @PrcklyPotential]

🌵Follow along as we test how best to grow PPC, improve post-harvest processing for foods & fuels, and study health benefits in lab & clinical trials. We’ll also assess farm economics, consumer appeal, and deliver outreach, education, and mentorship.

@USDA_NIFA #PricklyPear

[Prickly Pear Potential @PrcklyPotential]

🌵 Welcome to #PricklyPearPotential, where we research how prickly pear can help build stronger farms, and create opportunity in rural communities. Read more
@AgriLife: https://t.co/i6UQmjF7vs

This project is funded by @NifaUsda grant no. 2025-68012-44232

@TAMU @txextension