Dragon Fruit

Dragon Fruit

Chandler Sullivan

We call this interesting plant a fruit, but it is actually a cactus. Dragon fruit is grown in Asia, Mexico, Central America, South America, and Israel today. Its textured, scaly skin comes in pink or yellow, while its flesh may be red or white with scattered, tiny, black seeds.Dragon fruit is a rare and exotic fruit native to Central and South America. The pitaya, or strawberry pear, is another name for dragon fruit. It belongs to the cactus family and grows in tropical climates. Dragon fruit is high in antioxidants and vitamins while being low in calories and fat.When ripe, dragon fruit has a mildly sweet flavor often described as a blend of pear and kiwi, and a soft texture similar to a ripe kiwi. Under-ripe dragon fruit, on the other hand, is basically flavorless.Native to Mexico, Central and South America, the dragon fruit plant is a cactus. Each fruit starts out as a flower that blooms just once in the dark. Although you’ve probably seen dragon fruit that’s hot pink on the outside with white flesh inside, dragon fruit actually comes in a spectrum of colors including pink on the outside and inside, yellow on the outside and white on the inside and white on the outside and inside. All have tiny, edible black seeds like kiwi seeds.Cacti have thorns and the dragon fruit plant, with thorns on all its branches, is no exception. The fruit is a different story, as only the yellow variety has thorns on the fruit itself and they are easily removed.