Have You Tried Dragon Fruit? Pitahaya: Bat Pollinated Cactus Fruit
Reading Time: 2 minutes This is a delicious, sweet and refreshing fruit. I’m a fan of fruit that’s easy and doesn’t need juicing or sweetening, like apples, mangoes and bananas.
The Pitahaya fruit is new to me, and my list of “easy fruit.” It’s a little funny looking, the skin is yellow (or red, depending on variety) and bumpy. I expected to find a big pit in the middle, but was pleasantly surprised to find no pit, just little soft crunchy seeds, kind of like the seeds in a kiwi, but a little bigger. The flavor is very pleasant, sweet like a really good Honeydew Mellon, but better.
It also has a very high water content making it really refreshing. The skin is not eaten, and don’t eat too many at once because they have mild laxative properties. . .
I did a little research and found out that the fruit comes from the
Dragon-fruit cactus blooms at night and is pollinated by bats and other nocturnal critters. It’s high in vitamin C, aids in weight loss, and is good for diabetics.
We just cut it in half and scoop out the fruit. Yum!
(Who knew Dragons grew fruit? Or maybe these are their eggs, whatever the case there must be Dragons somewhere here in Ecuador. I’ll keep my eyes open.)
In 2010 we visited Ecuador where I had Pitahaya for the first time. I’ve never been able to find it here in the United States. Do you know where I can purchase the yellow Pitahaya? Is it available online perhaps?
I’ve had both white and pink dragon fruit. I prefer pink but be careful. It can stain clothes easily
I tried to grow it in Florida. I had some gorgeous flowers but no fruit. Maybe I should try it here in Panama!
The yellow pitahaya I had in Ecuador was much sweeter than the pink variety I found in Chinatown, NY.
We get them here as well, but they are usually florscent pink! Yes, they are sweet and kiwi like as well as melonish. Mmmm.
We had to try the Dragon Fruit. Our local Superstore sells them for $4.99. They are red on the outside with skins that look like scales but the inside looks like your pictures. They are delicious & filling.
Wow – just USD$2.00/kg here. They are some of the most expensive fruit here.
This dragon fruit, does one scoop it out with a spoon, and is the texture some what like a grapefruit ?
Hi Eric, its spoon scoopable – its more the texture of grapes – fleshly, but easily scooped.
Delicious fruits! I've only had the red ones and look forward to eating them in Ecuador, too!
Dragon fruit Eh,….If one had his own Dragon he could get his fruit free.
would like to try it but have never seen it in NS,
This little guy that looks like a grenade is the winner for me too! I bought a vast array of fruits at Coopera the other day. Just cut all of them open yesterday and laid them out for a taste test fest. An adventure without even leaving the house…
Isn't that the best! We love doing that too. The fruit can be pretty crazy looking. . . and sometimes there is a clear winner – like this one.
I love dragon fruit! Here in Singapore, it's usually pink. Sometimes the inside is pink, too. They also serve it blended as a drink which is really refreshing in the heat. You can see it here: