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Pitaya, or our dragon fruit, or another – strawberry pear is the fruit of various types of cacti. Its health properties were discovered by people living in South America, because the plant comes from there. Currently, pitaya is mainly grown in Asian countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Israel, Malaysia and China.
What is dragonfruit?
The dragon fruit, or pitaya, is the fruit of the cactus. It is also called pear strawberry or pitahaya. It comes from South America, but most of its crops are in Asia. It may resemble a kiwi, but has a slightly more sophisticated skin. The dragon fruit has an oval shape, fleshy shoulders and ends with large white flowers during flowering.
Pitahaya grows on cacti of the Stenocereus and Hylocereus families. One of the most popular varieties is the red dragon fruit with a characteristic white flesh. There are also varieties with yellow skin and white flesh, and red skin and red flesh. The cost of purchasing a dragon fruit in Poland is on average a dozen or so zlotys per kilogram. You can usually buy it in supermarkets.
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Dragon fruit – properties
Unlike many plants, dragon fruit contains a lot of betalain compounds. Moreover, they occur only, among others, in pitaya, red beet and prickly pear. Thanks to them, the lipid oxidation process is inhibited. Consuming dragon fruit has a beneficial effect on red blood cells and prevents changes in the cardiovascular system, e.g. due to chemotherapy. The dragon fruit is 80% water, so eating it is also refreshing.
Dragon fruit has been used medicinally for centuries. Scientists from China conducted a study on mice that were given fruit extract. It turned out that the rodents lost weight significantly, although they were on a high-fat diet. In addition, the risk of inflammation and fatty liver disease was reduced. The reason for this success was the betalain compounds mentioned.
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Dragon fruit – nutritional values
The dragon fruit, although mostly water, is rich in minerals and vitamins. They are: protein, fiber, fat, vitamin C, vitamin B6, vitamin PP, vitamin B2, calcium, phosphorus, iron. This makes pitaya a superfood. In addition, dragon fruit seeds contain valuable omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The fruit is not caloric – there are 100 kcal per 52 g of pitaya.
How to eat dragon fruit?
The dragon fruit does not need to be specially prepared. You can eat it like a kiwi, i.e. cut it in half and select the flesh with a spoon. Pitaya is ready to eat when its skin is smooth. The unripe dragon fruit, on the other hand, has a hard skin. On the other hand, overripe pitaya has black spots. As for the skin itself, it is inedible, although it can be used as decoration. Pitaya can also be added to juice, shakes or smoothies.
Many people who see a dragon fruit for the first time have the impression that it is sweet. In fact, the taste of the fruit is bland, but with slight sweet accents. This makes eating dragonfruit on your own may not be enjoyable. However, it is worth adding drinking water to juices, infusions, wine or tea. When making infusions, you don’t use fruit, but flowers.
Dragon fruit – kitchen use
An interesting idea to process dragon fruit is to prepare a dessert. It is not a complicated recipe, so everyone should be able to implement it. Just prepare:
• sweet cream cream (300g),
• powdered sugar (about 2 tablespoons),
• dark chocolate (about 50 g)
• raspberry syrup (100 ml),
• sugar (1/3 cup).
The dragon fruit should be peeled and small balls are hollowed out from the flesh. The remainder can be diced. Put the balls on the bottom of the glass and pour the syrup over a low heat. At the end, it is enough to pour whipped cream over it and when it thickens, add powdered sugar and grated chocolate. For better taste, you can sprinkle the dessert with coconut shavings.
You can also prepare a salad from dragon fruit. You will also need a banana, goji berries, lime juice and apricots to prepare it. First, cut the pitaya, remove the flesh and cut it into slices, add the chopped banana, diced apricots and pour the lime juice over it. Then mix the fruit and sprinkle with goji berries.
The base of the salad will be mangoes. First, peel them and blend them into a mousse, preferably without any lumps. The next step is to add dragonfruit balls, which can be obtained by hollowing them out of the halved fruit. To make pitaya taste more distinct, sprinkle it with lemon juice. Put all the ingredients in a tall glass, alternating between them.
Dragon fruit – price
The cost of buying a dragon fruit is about PLN 12 per kilogram. However, it is also available in a powdered version, but in this case the price of the product is higher and ranges between PLN 15 and PLN 35. It is worth remembering to make sure that it is ripe before eating dragon fruit. Eating unripe or old pitaya can cause stomach pain or other discomfort.
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