Is anyone growing pitaya fruit? These are not to be confused with dragon fruit or nopal. These grow well in part of the USA and Mexico. Pitaya fruit are very expensive. Watch the rest of the video to learn about mangos , tea etc…
2 Likes
There are many farms growing Dragon Fruit in San Diego county, CA. Two friends of mine each have orchards of them and I have clients operating a few more. Florida also has many growers of both commercial and consumer plants and of course there are many more fruit production farms outside the lower 48 states.
Here’s an article I wrote about them awhile back for the San Diego Hort. Society:
1 Like
They are similar but not the same plant but i think your aware " Despite their similarities, the pitaya and the dragon fruit are actually different fruits. The pitaya is a member of the Stenocereus genus and grows on column-like cacti. Boasting a bright color and a refreshing, sweet, and acidic flavor, the pitaya has a rough outer skin and smooth, seeded inner flesh that can be eaten alone or blended into a dish.
The dragon fruit, on the other hand, is a member of the Hylocereus genus, a variety of night-blooming cactus. Also known as the pitahaya, which may be at the root of the pitaya versus dragon fruit confusion, the dragon fruit is similar in size, flavor, and color to the pitaya. Both are able to add amazing color and flavor to a recipe, making them a fan favorite in everything from breakfast smoothies to post-workout supplement shakes."
2 Likes
I’m pretty sure all the species of dragonfruit have been placed in Hylocereus now. Pitaya and pitahaya are just different spellings of the same name, which can be used for any of the species. Here’s a summary from a scholarly article:
Dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp.), also known as Pitaya or Pitahaya belonging to the family Cactaceae, is an most important tropical fruit crop as it is rich in antioxidants (a source of vitamins and minerals, prevent cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal and urinary diseases), as well as dietry fiber and low in calories. It has drawn worldwide attention owing to its new flavour, colour and attractive appearance along with their enormous health benefits. It gained great commercial potential in India by consumer preference for new and exotic phyto-chemically rich nutrient fruits and its adaptability to new environment with abiotic stress tolerance like drought and temperature extremes. Although 14 Hylocereus spp. reported in worldwide, only four species such as H. undatus, H. monocanthus (Syn. H. polyrhizus), H. costariscensis and H. megalanthus (Syn. Selenicereus megalanthus) are mostly cultivated in different parts of the world.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-81682-x
I have been documenting my effort to grow the yellow pitaya (H. megalanthus) in my greenhouse, but they don’t seem to like the long cold winter. Only one of the seedlings I started has made it through both of the last winters without dying to the ground:
3 Likes
Sorry, I confused it with Pitahaya!
1 Like
All of the medical people I’ve listened to say that the bright red one is the one with all of the anti-oxidants. The others pale in comparison to the red one (ha!) in terms of nutrition.
John S
PDX OR
2 Likes
Personally, I’m more interested in how delicious H. megalanthus is, not any alleged health benefits, but that makes sense about the antioxidants being tied to the pink/purple flesh colors.
1 Like
If you are into fruit, you get plenty of antioxidants. I used to think color correlated with healthy plant nutrients, but apparently quince is high in polyphenols and its pale.
Slightly off topic, these were about $1/lb:
3 Likes
That kind of yellow dragonfruit is not very good. The good yellow kind don’t have the green leaf-like flaps. I believe the yellow ones in your photo are actually a selection of undatus, not megalanthus or a hybrid.
I think I’d formed the same opinion based on imported ones I’ve had in the US. I don’t think I’ve had a good pink/red skin with white flesh either.
I’ve had mediocre and pretty good red skin, red flesh, and I’ve had outstanding yellow/orange skin, white flesh.
These yellow ones were paler than I’ve seen. I got one because of that. Mostly I was there for the marian plum, but also got some really good prepared pomelo, and an apple variety I hadn’t seen before.
2 Likes
Murky,
Where was that market? I’ve never seen them anywhere near that cheap, and I live pretty close to you.
John S
Price is in baht, I believe per kilo. Plane ticket negates the price advantage.
2 Likes
These are the sweet yellow ones, In S.A. they cost $0.50 each or sometimes $1 each.
I think it is similar with all of these types of fruit that if you eat 3 or more you get very rapid digestion, sometimes diarrhea if the wrong food is in front of them lol.
1 whole one had that effect for me.
1 Like
The good one’s I’ve had have the big seeds like yours pictured.
Most people here in the US don’t get much fruit at all. Many of us don’t get much in between January and June, even if they grow fruit.
It’s also not just antioxidants. Many particular fruit and vegetables have especially healthy polyphenols of many kinds that improve our health. Many tropical fruits are available in our off season. If one is much more important for health than another, I’m going to make an effort to eat the healthier one. We can greatly impact our health by prevention in an inexpensive way. After we get cancer, etc., it’s much more drastic, ineffective and expensive.
johN S
PDX OR
2 Likes
Does anyone know what cultivar this is? I got one because I’ve never seen pink or red fleshed types in the store here. Haven’t tasted it yet, though.
Here’s the tag, I looked up the PLU and it didn’t help (it’s for all red-skinned dragonfruit, which isn’t even accurate since this one is green skinned with a pink blush):
Edit: Opened it. Bland, almost flavorless, very little sugar. Don’t recommend.