Pitaya fruit

[swincher]

@clarkinks

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

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:

Yellow pitaya/dragonfruit

I’ve never understood the appeal of (pink) dragonfruit, which always taste vaguely like vegetal styrofoam every time I decide to give them another chance. However, I ordered a fruit box from Miami Fruit last week, and it included three of the yellow type, and this tastes like a completely different fruit! Very sweet and flavorful, excellent texture. Suddenly I have a strong desire to add one of these to my greenhouse… From a little googling, it looks like there is a wide range of fruit quality…