A pitaya (/pta./) or pitahaya (/ptha./) is the fruit of several different cactus species indigenous to the region of southern Mexico and along the Pacific coasts of Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador.[1][2] Pitaya is cultivated in East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the United States, the Caribbean, Australia, Brazil, and throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world.
These fruits are commonly known in English as "dragon fruit", a name used since 1963, apparently resulting from the leather-like skin and prominent scaly spikes on the fruit exterior.[4] The fruit is often designated as "Vietnamese dragon fruit" as Vietnam is the lead exporter.[5] The fruit may also be known as a strawberry pear.[2][6]
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The names pitahaya and pitaya derive from Mexico, and pitaya roja in Central America and northern South America, possibly relating to pitahaya for names of tall cacti species with flowering fruit.[2][7]
Pitaya or dragon fruit is native to the region of southern Mexico and along the Pacific coasts of Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador.[1][2] The dragon fruit is cultivated in East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the United States, the Caribbean, Australia, and throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world.[1][2]
The sour pitaya or pitaya agria (S. gummosus) in the Sonoran Desert has been an important food source for indigenous peoples of the Americas. The Seri people of northwestern Mexico still harvest the fruit, and call the plant ziix is ccapxl "thing whose fruit is sour".
Pitaya flowers bloom overnight and usually wilt by the evening.[10] They rely on nocturnal pollinators such as bats or moths for fertilization. Self-fertilization will not produce fruit in some species and while crossbreeding has resulted in several "self-fertile" varieties, cross-pollinating with a second, genetically distinct plant of the same species generally increases fruit set and quality. This limits the capability of home growers to produce the fruit. However, the plants can flower between three and six times per year depending on growing conditions. Like other cacti, if a healthy piece of the stem is broken off, it may take root in the soil and become its own plant.
Selenicereus has adapted to live in dry tropical climates with a moderate amount of rain. In numerous regions, it has escaped cultivation to become a weed and is classified as an invasive weed in some countries.[1]
Stems and fruits are susceptible to several diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, a nematode, and a virus.[12] Overwatering or excessive rainfall can cause the flowers to drop and fruit to rot.[13] The bacterium Xanthomonas campestris causes the stems to rot. Dothiorella fungi can cause brown spots on the fruit. Other fungi known to infect pitaya include Botryosphaeria dothidea, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Bipolaris cactivora.[12]
The fruit's texture is sometimes likened to that of the kiwifruit because of its black, crunchy seeds. The seed oil contains the fatty acids linoleic acid and linolenic acid.[16] Dragon fruit is used to flavor and color juices and alcoholic beverages, such as "Dragon's Blood Punch" and the "Dragotini".[17] The flowers can be eaten or steeped as tea.[18]
The red and purple colors of some Selenicereus fruits are due to betacyanins, a family of pigments that includes betanin, the same substance that gives beets, Swiss chard, and amaranth their red color.[19][20]
In one study, mice on a high-fat diet who received an extract of the fruit gained less weight and had reductions in liver fat, insulin resistance, and inflammation, which were attributed in part to beneficial changes in gut bacteria (11).
In a 2014 study in mice on a high-fat, high-carb diet, the group that received dragon fruit juice had better blood sugar responses and reductions in some liver enzyme markers, while another liver enzyme marker significantly increased (13).
In another older study, rats with diabetes treated with an extract from the fruit had a 35% reduction in malondialdehyde, a marker of free-radical damage. They also had less arterial stiffness, compared to the control group (14).
In two older case studies, women with no history of food allergies developed anaphylactic reactions after consuming a fruit mixture that contained dragon fruit. Testing confirmed that they had antibodies against dragon fruit in their blood (16, 17).
On the outside, the fruit has the appearance of a hot pink or yellow bulb with spike-like green leaves shooting up like flames around it. Cut it open, and you'll find fleshy white stuff inside dotted with black seeds that are OK to eat.
Dragon fruit is generally safe to eat, although studies have reported isolated allergic reactions. Symptoms include swelling of the tongue, hives, and vomiting. This type of reaction seems to be very rare.
If you eat enough red dragon fruit, it might turn your pee pink or red. This symptom looks more alarming than it actually is. The same thing can happen if you eat a lot of beets. Your pee should turn back to its normal color once the fruit is out of your system.
Before you buy dragon fruit, squeeze it gently. It should give a little bit without feeling too soft or mushy. Avoid fruit that has bruises or dry leaves -- signs that it's overripe. If it feels hard when you press on it, let it ripen on the counter for a few days before eating.
You can eat dragon fruit in a few ways. Toss it into a fruit salad along with other tropical fruits like pineapple and mango. Cut it into a salsa. Churn it into ice cream. Squeeze it into juice or water. Use it as a topping for Greek yogurt. Or freeze it and blend it into a smoothie.
Sidenote: For all my fellow bloggers out there, I went to a magazine conference this past week and attended a Food & Wine Writing Session while I was there. Among talking about how to efficiently post on social media, monetize your blog and build an audience, they touched upon photography. What are your tips and tricks for taking mouth-watering photos? What camera/lens do you use? What about lighting?
To scoop out the dragon fruit, take a large spoon and just run it around the edges. Since this fruit is so soft, it basically comes right out of the flesh. Cube it up, toss it with the avocado, chives, cilantro and lime juice.
This has been our favorite tour in Maui! We learned so much about the health benefits of Dragon fruit. Research has shown that it helps control diabetes. We enjoyed the tour of their organic fruit farm along with the enthusiasm of the owner. Their entire farm is organic and they are the largest US producer of organic Dragon fruit.
I went with my friend today and had a great time. I learned a lot about the different fruit grown in Maui. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys learning about gardening and farming. It was a quick 1 hr walk. They offer you cold bottle water and a cute fruit tray throughout the tour. Definitely wear tennis shoes and attempt to go in the morning if visiting in the summer because it can get hot in the afternoon. Our guide was very friendly and entertaining.
That gorgeous color is thanks to the combo of this dragon fruit (also known as pitaya) and ripe strawberries. Dragon fruit, if you've never had it, tastes almost like a hybrid of melon, pear and kiwi... or something like that-- let me know if you have a better description to offer up because I'm struggling here. It's very subtle in flavor, but still super tasty, and it goes great with berries. Oh, and tequila, of course.
Dragon fruits come in different colors-- some are magenta all the way through, some are yellow on the exterior, but most are magenta on the outside and white on the inside, like this one here. You still can get great color out of it though, just trim off all of the hard, scaly exterior and try to leave a decent amount of the pink flesh intact. A little bit goes a long way!
If you can't get your paws on dragon fruit at your local grocery store, take the extra time to swing by an Asian market and you'll find one there, since dragon fruit is common in Southeast Asia and the Philippines.
By the way, here's a fun fact for you: Dragon fruit grow on cacti, which only bloom at night, under a full moon. How bad-ass is that? As if the name "dragon fruit" wasn't bad-ass enough on its own, right? In its native countries bats and moths take care of the pollination, but farmers in the US who grow dragon fruit actually have to go out into the field under the full moon and pollinate them by hand. Yup, these things were grown out of dedication.
I prefer my margaritas frozen, so I freeze half of the actual strawberries to throw in in addition to ice cubes. That way it doesn't get watery too fast-- as if that'd be a problem for me. You know I can't help but sling these back super fast. They taste too good to sip slowly, so beware.
Also, I like to rim my margarita glasses, so I picked up some gold sugar for these bad boys. I didn't get it from a specialty store or anything, it's actually just the sugar that people use for sugar cookies, which was in the baking aisle of my local ShopRite. You can use salt if you prefer, but I wanted a little something special for my Strawberry Dragon Fruit Margaritas. And since I was doin' it up with the pretty colored sugar, I decided to also get creative with my garnishes, and I used a melon baller to scoop out some of the dragon fruit for topping a few of the margaritas. In others, I used slices of the dragon fruit and lime. What can I say, I'm indecisive.
Show me how you dress yours up by taking a photo and tagging it with #hostthetoast on Instagram or Twitter. In the mean time, I'll be enjoying these Strawberry Dragon Fruit Margaritas and walking around the town looking for rare Pokemon. You know, just living the life.
The macaron is such a lovely, delicate treat, but making it does take a bit of practice. Luckily, there are very few ingredients involved and the recipe yields a few dozen cookies so lots of opportunities for improvement!. 152ee80cbc
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