All about the exotic Dragon Fruit: The 101 Guide
Learn all about the exotic Dragon Fruit in this 101 guide! Know its nutritional benefits, how to eat it right and what all the buzz is about.
Table of Contents
The Fruit Saga│Nutritional Benefits│Reasons To Consume│How to consume│ Ways to Select & Store│Other Benefits│Adverse Effects │The Verdict
Let’s play a game—Name The Fruit. Here are your hints.
- It is native to the Americas.
- It is loaded with iron, fibre, magnesium, and antioxidants.
- It tastes similar to a cross between a pear and a kiwi.
- It has a unique dragon-like outer covering with scales and spikes.
You don’t need more hints, with the last one making things pretty clear. YES, today’s post talks about everything you wished to know about a fruit that owns the throne in the realm of exoticness: Dragon Fruit.
Do you remember seeing this fruit perfectly displayed on the refrigerator shelves in supermarkets? Well, Dragon fruit is no more limited to shelves and is now readily available in the local markets.
Thanks to research institutes for bringing sustainable ways of growing this fruit in places other than its aborigins. The objective is to meet the needs of present-day health issues, a result of the sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise, lowering essential nutrients, and more.
Let’s find out in brief below about how dragon fruit addresses it.
Dragon fruit fights Free Radicals with antioxidants
Dragon fruit is rich in antioxidants which are essential to protect cells from radical damage. The molecules of free radicals have the potential to cause life-altering diseases and premature aging. Exposure to x-rays, air contaminants, unhealthy lifestyles, and more, trigger free radicals to build up and impair healthy molecules.
The antioxidants in Dragon fruit protect your cells from damage caused by these free radicals. The fruit contains antioxidants betacyanins, betaxanthins, hydroxycinnamates, and flavonoids and has proven to effectively neutralize these free radicals.
Aids Good Health
Research suggests that this fruit is loaded with essential nutrients like magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, vitamins A & C, zinc, calcium, and copper, making it a goldmine of valuable nutritional sources. All these nutrients work miraculously for boosting your health.
Each 100gm of Dragon Fruit contains
|
NUTRIENTS |
VALUE |
|---|---|
|
Water Content |
87g |
|
Magnesium |
26.4g |
|
Fat |
0.4g |
|
Potassium |
57mg |
|
Protein |
2g |
|
Vitamin A |
0.085 |
|
Vitamin C |
500mg |
|
Calcium |
5.7mg |
|
Zinc |
14mg |
|
Copper |
31µg |
|
Iron |
3.4mp |
Each nutrient plays a specific role in improving your health and positively effects different parts of your body
- Magnesium is essential for energy production, muscle support, and nerve function
- Potassium is essential for the heart, brain, and muscles to function properly
- Iron aids production of red blood cells
- Vitamin A improves vision, eye health and skin disorders
- Vitamin C improves immunity
- Calcium is universally known to promote healthy bones and teeth
- Zinc is essential for the immune system and metabolism along with wound healing
- Copper helps in making blood vessels and keeping the nerve cells and immune system healthy.
Delivers Prebiotic Properties
The role of prebiotics for healthy digestion is unparalleled. Prebiotics are fibres that help in growing the healthy bacteria in your gut and act like food for them to grow. Dragon fruit brings a prebiotic effect upon consumption that nourishes healthy bacteria and boosts digestion. Further, eating Dragon fruit boosts the immune system, which reduces the risk of intestinal infections.
Builds immunity
Being a great reservoir of iron, the fruit boosts iron levels in the body and improves oxygen supply. Iron plays a crucial role in transporting oxygen in the body and breaking down food into energy.
Vitamin C protects white blood cells, which are primarily responsible for your immunity and preventing infections. The WBCs are prone to damage by free radicals but the antioxidants protect them and thus protect your entire immune system.
The Fruity Saga!
Dragon fruit goes by several names from pitaya or pitahaya to strawberry pear. It is native to Central America and Mexico. However, in the late 19th century it was first introduced to Southeast Asia in Vietnam. As of today, the fruit is grown across Asia (Thailand, Taiwan, Myanmar, India, and more), Mexico, Central & South America, and Israel, where it has a growing production and distribution market.
Dragon fruit has several variants based on mainly two factors: taste and appearance.
How does Dragon fruit tastes?
The first variant tastes sour and the other tastes sweet. The sour pitahaya is mainly found across Central and South America.
Appearance
Dragon fruit is a pulpy fruit with black seeds. The first variant has bright red skin and green scales that befits its name. Within this variant falls two categories: one with white pulp and a second with red pulp. The second variant is called the yellow dragon fruit with implied yellow skin.
What are the benefits of eating Dragon Fruit?
Owing to its unique appearance and commonly believed superfood properties, this fruit is very popular among both health-conscious individuals and foodies. This section highlights the health benefits of eating dragon fruit in detail.
Every 100 grams or 3.5 ounces of dragon fruit contain 60 Calories, 2 grams of protein, 9 grams of carbs, and 3 grams of fibre. The nutritional benefits make the fruit a highly nutrient-dense fruit.
When you eat 100gm of dragon fruit, you intake 3% of daily value calories, 3% protein and 4% carbs. This a piece of great news for people who take their health and diet seriously.
It has high fibre content
If you go to the gym or engage in any form of physical activity, you know how important it is to consume fibre for its role in digestion.
What exactly are dietary fibres? These are nondigestible carbohydrates that make your tummy happy and Dragon Fruit has plenty of fibres in its full-bodied pulp.
It prevents diseases
The antioxidants present in Dragon fruit, help prevent many diseases. Due to being rich in several important vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, Dragon fruit helps in improving your overall health.
This in turn helps you stay at bay from many diseases. The fibre-rich fruit also helps you in maintaining a healthy body weight.
The seeds of Dragon fruit contain fatty acids like Omega3 and Omega9 and other natural oils which are beneficial for heart health.
It promotes a healthy gut
The human stomach can’t break down the fibre on its own, without the help of bacteria living inside your gut. Simply put, these microorganisms use fibre to fuel growth.
Prebiotic fibres are known to promote and balance the growth of healthy bacteria in the human gut. These microorganisms can positively impact your health and boost your body’s ability to fight diseases.
Eating prebiotics regularly limits the chances of developing an infection in your digestive tract and prevents diarrhoea.
It improves your immune system
Diet plays an instrumental role n building your immunity. Dragon fruits contain vitamin C and carotenoids that strengthen the immune system and safeguard white blood cells from damage and ward off infection. Besides, antioxidants, vitamin C, and carotenoids can effectively neutralize free radicals.
It may boost low iron levels
As mentioned earlier, it contains high iron levels. Iron helps transport oxygen across the body and breaks down food into energy. Iron deficiency is the most commonly found deficiency around the world. Therefore, people who experience the deficiency should consume a variety of iron-rich foods like meats, fish, legumes, and more. Additionally, you can eat Dragon fruit.
It is a good source of magnesium
Magnesium level is essential to maintain muscle and nerve function and keep the bones strong. It is also important for the heart to function normally by regulating optimal blood pressure. Dragon fruit is a very good source of magnesium. On average, just one cup of dragon fruit contains 18% of RDI (Recommended Dietary Intake).
Are there any adverse effects of eating dragon fruit?
It is safe to consume dragon fruit; however, certain people might develop an allergic reaction in some rare cases.
There have been cases where individuals with no food allergies were found to develop anaphylactic reactions after consuming dragon fruit. Test results confirmed that they had antibodies against dragon fruit in their body.
How to buy perfectly edible dragon fruit?
Unripe dragon fruit is green in colour. Ripe dragon fruit has red or yellow skin (based on the variety) that’s ready to eat. Look for fruits that are brightly covered and even coloured with a few dark spots. The fruit shouldn’t be mushy when touched and the spikes should not start looking brown and dry. On the other hand, you can always buy unripe fruit and ripen it on your counter.
Like other fruits, you can keep dragon fruit at room temperature for several days. However, it should be uncut. Once cut, either eat it immediately or store it in the fridge maximum for 1 or 2 days inside a plastic bag. A cut piece can be stored until it begins to appear brown.
Ways to eat dragon fruit for maximum benefits
We bet you already have come across aesthetic dragon fruit recipes across Instagram under #wellness tag with bright pink skin and white pulp dotted with black seeds.
Eat it raw, make a salad, or smoothie, grill it in a snack or make a popsicle, there are so many ways to eat this refreshing fruit
Although enjoyed mostly on its own, it can be used raw in fruit salads (by sprinkling a little honey or lemon), smoothies, drinks, and more. Meanwhile, there are cooked recipes as well like jelly desserts or baked cakes, muffins, and more.
This fruit is used as a delicious base for smoothie bowls. To prepare it, all you have to do is freeze the flesh in chunks. Toss these frozen chunks into a blender with banana chunks and some coconut water and your delicious healthy smoothy is ready.
Another way to consume Dragon fruit is to put micro-chunks of dragon fruit over greek yoghurt alongside toasted almonds and nuts.
To make refreshing breakfast juices and smoothies one can pair them with myriads of fruits like kiwi, pineapple, banana, strawberries, bananas and more!
One of the less-tried ways to consume the fruit is by grilling cubes of dragon fruits. The caramelized sweetness can be balanced with a little touch of spice that creates a lip-smacking treat.
The last delicacy can be a real treat for summer–a fruity popsicle! All you have to do is juice the fruit with others like kiwi and orange. Transfer it to a mould and freeze it with honey or jaggery to add up the sweetness. Voila, your healthy summer delight is ready!
Are there any other benefits of the dragon fruit?
Yes! While many prefer discarding the peel of dragon fruit for its bitter taste, others turn it into pickles or incorporate it into a salad. The covering is a rich source of flavonoids that is rich in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
The fruit peel is also used to derive natural healthy food colourants, used to make skin-beautifying facial masks, anti-dandruff masks, and nutritional tea.
The Verdict!
This fascinating fruit not only finds its place in the exotic section of the grocery store but also in the section of healthy foods. So, if you have been avoiding this superfood, it is time to add it to your plate.
Given the nutritional value of this Instagram-hit tropical fruit, dragon fruit is definitely worth spending your money on.
It offers a fantastic pop of color to your fruit platter. It supplies essential nutrients, prebiotics, antioxidants, and more in a low-calorie serving!
- It is essential to check with an experienced doctor if you are using it to improve your health condition. Here are two special precautions to watch out for:
- If you are diabetic, eating dragon fruit might lower blood sugar levels. Therefore, strictly keep an eye on your blood sugar levels.
If you are about to have surgery, stop taking the fruits at least 2 weeks before it as it may interfere with your blood sugar control.
FAQs
Is Dragon fruit a superfood?
Yes, it is one of the superfoods because of its high nutrient content. Its low-calorie, high fibre, healthy fatty acids, and antioxidant properties make it a must-have fruit.
Can I eat Dragon fruit daily?
Yes, you can eat Dragon fruit daily. It is rich in essential nutrients like vitamin C, Magnesium, etc. It is low in calories and carbs which makes it a perfect fruit for people who are looking for food options to include in their weight management journey.
Which Dragon fruit is best-red or white?
The red dragon fruit has a higher amount of antioxidants than the white ones. But having any of the white or red dragon fruit is equally beneficial.
What is the best time to eat Dragon fruit?
Morning is the best time to eat fruits as the digestive system is able to break down the fruit sugar well and consume all the nutrients well. You can, in fact, also eat Dragon fruit empathy stomach or as your breakfast. Its high fibre will make you feel full for a longer time and will also aid your health.
Does Dragon fruit contain sugar?
Dragon fruit contains natural sugars in very few quantities.
Is it okay for people with diabetes to eat Dragon fruit?
Yes. Dragon fruit reduces blood sugar levels. It can be eaten by people with high blood sugar and borderline diabetics. People with low blood sugar, however, should keep an eye on their sugar levels if they eat Dragon fruit regularly.
What is the cost of Dragon fruit?
The cost of 1 Dragon Fruit lies between Rs 70-120 based on the city and the season.
