What is Pitaya?
Tropical fruit with a brilliant red exterior and sweet, seed-speckled pulp, the dragon fruit, also known as pitahaya or strawberry pear, is a tropical fruit with a bright red exterior and a sweet, seed-speckled pulp it is famous among foodies and health-conscious people due to its unusual appearance and well-known superfood characteristics. You don’t have to live in the tropics to reap the benefits of dragon fruit, though. In reality, it’s available fresh or frozen in supermarkets all around the world.
Where it is found?
Mexico, Central America, and South America are native to dragon fruit.
Nutritional information:
Calories: 136
Protein: 3 grams
Fat: 0 grams
Carbohydrate: 29 grams
Fiber: 7 grams
Iron: 8% of the RDI
Magnesium: 18% of RDI
Vitamin C: 9% of RDI
Vitamin E: 4% of RDI
What are its benefits?
- May help fight chronic disease
- Loaded with fiber
- Promotes with healthy gut
- Strengthen your immune system
- May boost low iron levels
- Good source of magnesium
How to grow it?
- Cut a 30cm part of a dragon fruit tree and dry it for 5-6 days, or until the cut end turns white.
- Simply insert cut side down in sandy cacti soil and water monthly once it has dried.
- Within a month, your plant will send out roots and establish itself as a permanent resident, after which it will continue to develop.
How to include it in your diet?
- With a sharp knife, cut it in half lengthwise.
- Cut the fruit into cubes by cutting vertical and horizontal lines into the pulp without cutting into the peel with a spoon. Remove the cubes with a spoon or your fingers by pushing on the back of the skin to reveal them
- To eat it, mix it into salads, smoothies, or yoghurt, or just eat it plain.
