Knowledge of the physical properties of cactus pear, which is grown wild in Turkey, is necessary for the design of equipment for harvesting, transporting, cleaning, packing, storing, processing etc. of the fruit. In this study, some physical properties of cactus pears were determined, and the effects of different water contents on the properties were investigated. At water content levels from 89.91% w.b. to 44.76% w.b., the linear dimensions decreased from 71.93 to 63.27 mm in length, 57.57 to 48.10 mm in width, and 52.08 to 44.99 mm in thickness. The geometric mean diameter and sphericity decreased from 59.68 to 51.08 mm, and 0.831 to 3 0.809, respectively. The moisture contents considered, the volume, surface area and mass of fruit varied from 89.96 to 61.38 cm(3) 111.92 to 83.04 cm(2), and 109.57 to 99.27 g, respectively. The projected area of fruit on the Y-Z and X-Z planes varied from 20.20 to 17.02 cm(2) and from 15.57 to 12.92 cm(2), respectively. The fruit density, bulk density and porosity varied from 1224.34 to 1766.77 kg/cm(3), 641.74 to 588.66 kg/cm(3), and 0.469 to 0.637 kg/cm(3), respectively for the same water content range. The coefficients of static friction, on galvanized iron steel, plywood and rubber surfaces, varied from 0.243 to 0.219, 0.261 to 0.232, and 0.296 to 0.268, respectively. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.