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Thai: " Geow Mangon "
The Pitaya is more commonly referred to as the dragon fruit, it is the fruit of several cactus species. The pitaya only blooms at night; they are large white flowers that are often called Moonflower or Queen of the Night.
Dragon fruit comes in two colours. The white fleshed variety has a slightly citrus flavour and the deep red fleshed fruit has a mild sweet taste, both are speckled with tiny black seeds, this fruit is unlike any other fruit, and is the perfect addition to any exotic tropical fruit salad.
It is believed that Dragon fruit has been brought from Vietnam to Thailand in the past 7-8 years ago. Now it is widely grown all over Thailand.
Usage
- Eaten fresh
- The fruit is most often eaten chilled and cut in half so the flesh may be spooned out.
- The juice is used in frozen drinks
- Added in fruit salad
- Make juice
Nutrition
Different species of Dragon fruit may contain slight differences of nutrition facts. Mostly, dragon fruits are rich in fibre, vitamin C and minerals. The dragon fruit is also low in calories, it also contain phytoalbumins which have antioxidant properties.
Storage
Dragon fruit (Pitaya) should be stored at 5ºC and 90% relative humidity, and can be stored for up to 40 days. If the fruit is stored at higher temperature than that, the decline of quality is much quicker.
At 20ºC it has a very short life. It becomes worse if the dragon fruit is moved in and out in between two relative high and low temperatures. For example, if the seller displays the fruit for 4 to 8 hours a day and stores it back in a cold room after business hours, then the shell life of dragon fruit will be very short.
However, the stored fruit-skins will become thinner, due to water moving from the skin to the flesh. There remains a higher sugar level, but less flavor than freshly harvested fruit and may develop a watery rot.
Season / Availability
Year round
Peak period May-Oct. |
