By Henrylito D. Tacio
In Central and South America where it is native, it is known as “pitahaya.” But in most parts of the world, it is called dragon fruit because it is covered by green-tipped overlapping scales and has bright pink to red color. It is sweet, juicy, crispy, and tastes like pear, kiwi, and watermelon.
The fruit was probably introduced by Europeans who brought it from the New World. In the case of Taiwan, the fruit was brought in by the Dutch. In the Philippines, the fruit was introduced in the Philippines in the 1900s through trading.
Dragon fruit is usually eaten fresh. The fruits are peeled and the white or purple flesh, which has a mild sweet taste, is eaten. Dragon fruit can also be used to prepare juice or wine.
The typical nutritional values per 100 grams of fresh dragon fruit (of which 55 grams are edible) are as follows: water 80-90 g; ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) 4–25 mg; ash 0.4-0.7 g; calcium 6–10 mg; calories: 35-50; carbohydrates 9-14 g; carotene (Vitamin A) traces; fat 0.1-0.6 g; fiber 0.3-0.9 g; iron 0.3-0.7 mg; niacin (Vitamin B3) 0.2-0.45 mg; phosphorus 16 – 36 mg; protein 0.15-0.5 g; thiamine (Vitamin B1) traces; and riboflavin (Vitamin B2) traces.
According to the Department of Science and Technology, a typical dragon fruit is rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytoalbumins (which act as antioxidant which can prevent the formation of cancer).
Its other health benefits are as follows: enhances the body metabolism (protein), improves digestion (fiber), reduces fat (fiber), and improves memory (carotene). It also maintains the health of the eyes (carotene), strengthens bones and teeth development (calcium), helps metabolize carbohydrates, and produces energy (vitamin B1).
The website of Natural Food Benefits cites the following health benefits of eating dragon fruits:
· Keeping a heart healthy low cholesterol diet? Don’t worry about your cholesterol. Dragon fruit is both low in cholesterol and has little to no unhealthy cholesterol-producing fats (certain fats which are metabolized to cholesterol contribute to increased cholesterol levels more than even cholesterol itself in food sources of cholesterol).
· The amount of vitamin C in dragon fruit is high, and because the dragon fruit is a natural fruit providing you with a rich balance of nutrients coming along with the vitamin C, you absorb the Vitamin C in dragon fruit efficiently when you eat dragon fruit as part of your fruit healthy diet.
· Dragon fruit is a good natural source of anti-oxidants which help to prevent the dangers of free radicals which can cause cancer and other undesirable health detriments. The number, quantity, and variety of antioxidants in real foods like dragon fruit is completely unmatched by any food supplement or pills – even those claiming to have “antioxidant” health benefits. Nothing compares to the rich array of nutrients and antioxidants in a real natural food like the dragon fruit.
· Dragon fruit does have a small amount of fats because there are so many seeds in the edible part of the fruit. There can be literally thousands of the small black seeds in any given dragon fruit, and like most seeds and nuts they have both fats and protein in them while the flesh of the fruit itself has virtually none.
· Dietary fiber is an important nutrition factor for everyone from young to old, and the best way to get dietary fiber is to eat fruits and vegetables, including fruits like the dragon fruit. As you might expect, like many fruits, dragon fruit has lots of dietary fiber with almost 1 gram of fiber per 100 grams of the fresh dragon fruit.
Besides being eaten directly, dragon fruit has also been created as a raw material for making wine. In Malaysia, unripe dragon fruit can be cooked as a soup and mixed with meat and bones. Dragon fruit is also used as a raw material for salad.
The unopened buds, dried flowers, and fruit skin can also be processed into food. The unopened buds can be made into a delicious fresh salad. The dried flowers, on the other hand, can be cooked into lumpiang shanghai. In addition, the dried flowers can also be used as an ingredient for bulalo broth or processed into delicious dragon balls (meatballs).
The fruit’s skin can be cooked with malunggay leaves and can also be processed into jam.
More than a decade ago, a Malaysian monk in Kuala Lumpur made a health drink out of dragon fruit. He shared this home-made brew with other monks. S.Y. Sin, the monk’s disciple, was also treated to this nutritious drink whenever he visited the temple.
Sin was so taken with the dragon fruit enzyme drink that he asked for the recipe. He improved on the recipe and made the enzyme for his friends. After much coaxing from friends to commercialize the product, he decided to give it a shot.
Five years ago, Sin started Nature Farm’s Marketing Sdn Bhd in Selangor, which produces the dragon fruit enzyme for the local market. With its simple packaging in a dark bottle labeled Pitacacti Delight, one could mistake it for red wine. Today, the drink is distributed to most states in Malaysia.
As the red variety of dragon fruit is used, the drink itself is a deep rich maroon. Due to the fermentation process, the dragon fruit enzyme has 3.6 percent alcohol, and one would experience a warming sensation when consuming the drink. As such, it is not given halal certification because the halal status is only given if the product has less than 0.5 percent alcohol.
However, the Islamic Food Research Centre in Kuala Lumpur has indicated in a statement dated December 24, 2007 that Muslims can consume this drink because the enzyme does not come under the category of wine. The alcohol in the enzyme drink is a result of the natural fermentation process.
The health wonders of dragon fruit was brought into the forefront by an article written by Leilanie Adriano which was published in Philippine Daily Inquirer on September 5, 2009. It chronicled the story of Editha Aguinaldo-Dacuycuy, whose daughter is afflicted with cerebral palsy.
In 2005, Dacuycuy was searching for an alternative medicine that would cure her daughter’s frequent constipation, a common problem among cerebral palsy patients. A friend gave her some dragon fruit from Macau which proved effective in inducing regular bowel movement.
Adriano reported: “Dacuycuy, a former manager of an insurance company and a psychology graduate of the University of the Philippines, found herself browsing the Internet to learn more about this exotic fruit. The dragon fruit, she found out, was also known as a ‘cleansing fruit’ in South America.
“She also learned that according to physicians and nutrition experts, the dragon fruit is rich in fiber that helps in the elimination of wastes, and that it contains high levels of vitamin C, calcium, and phosphorous. Its other nutritional benefits include high levels of antioxidants that can help prevent cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, rheumatism, and urinary tract infection.”
From single cuttings she got from friends, Dacuycuy managed to propagate the plant until they bore fruit several months after. Encouraged, she sent a daughter to Thailand to learn how to care for the plant, and later consulted the Department of Agriculture in her municipality on the proper management of her dragon fruit farm.
Today, her dragon fruit farm in barangay Paayas of Burgos, Ilocos Norte covers five hectares.
Adriano concluded her article with these words: “With the growing demand for dragon fruit in the local market, and considering its nutritional benefits, Dacuycuy has decided to share her know-how on the cultivation of the plant. She envisions putting up a distillery plant in the near future, where she and other farmer-cooperators can operate a dragon fruit winery. To make the distillery plant feasible, however, some 50 hectares of land must be planted with dragon fruit, she added. It remains a dream at this point, but hopefully not for long.”
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