The endangered cactus behind Mexico's sweet secret

MEXICO CITY — Even though it's illegal, bars of acitrón are stacked in nearly every stall at the Merced market in Mexico City.

They look like lemon bars. But they're pieces of barrel cactus that have been chopped up and then seeped in vats of sugar until they're crystalized.

Edith Hernández Torres, who runs a shop here, wraps hers in cellophane. She says acitrón is special, that it tastes nothing like the candied lemon or sweet potato or the pineapple she also sells.

"It has a chewy texture," she says, "like something roasted."

The Mexican government began banning the sale of acitrón in the early 2000s. That's when they found that the biznaga cactus — a species of barrel cactus — was in danger of extinction due to overexploitation.

Eyder Peralta / NPR / NPR

Hernández knows