Exploring the Unique Dragon Fruit: Nutrition, Benefits, and Tips
With its vibrant pink skin and distinctive scaly texture, dragon fruit stands out at the grocery store for its unusual tropical look. But beyond its almost mythical aesthetic, what makes this colorful fruit so good for you?
Let's unveil the special health boosting compounds found in dragon fruit, explore how to best enjoy its sweet seeded flesh, and discover why this eye-catching produce can be an nutritious addition to your diet.
What is Dragon Fruit?
Dragon fruit, also sometimes called pitaya or strawberry pear fruit, is an oval-shaped tropical fruit in the cactus family. Native to Mexico and South America, it’s now grown commercially around the world in ideal warm, dry environments.
The most common types have vibrant magenta skin with green scale-like accents. But some varieties also present with pink, red, or yellow skin. When sliced open, dragon fruit has white flesh speckled with tiny edible black seeds.
Dragon Fruit Flavor and Texture
Inside its spiky exterior, dragon fruit flesh has a crisp, juicy texture akin to kiwi or pear. It’s packed with tiny dark seeds you can eat, with a mild sweet flavor profile.
While subtle in taste compared to very sweet fruits, dragon fruit packs a nutritious punch underneath its understated flavor exterior.
Dragon Fruit Nutrition Facts
What makes this unique looking fruit so good for you? Dragon fruit delivers essential vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, fiber and more in each low calorie serving.
Low Calorie Density
One feature that makes dragon fruit appealing for health-conscious consumers is its low caloric density. With only 60 calories in a standard 356g fruit, it’s a low cal, high volume food.
Rich in Fiber
Dragon fruit also supplies a hefty dose of dietary fiber, with 7 grams per fruit. This indigestible carb promotes healthy digestion, stable blood sugar levels, and lasting satiety from a small serving.
Packed with Vitamin C
You’ll get 28% your RDI of immune supporting vitamin C in every dragon fruit. One serving has more vitamin C than a small orange or a cup of blueberries even.
Source of B Vitamins
Don’t overlook dragon fruit’s B vitamin content too. It supplies thiamin, riboflavin and other essential B vitamins needed for energy production, nervous system health and more.
Unique Antioxidants
Dragon fruit gets its vibrant hot pink hue from betacyanins, a special type of antioxidant pigment. These compounds reduce oxidative damage, fight premature aging, and cut cellular stress.
Dragon Fruit Health Benefits
With its unique supply of protective nutrients and antioxidants, adding dragon fruit into your diet can benefit wellness in a variety of ways.
Boosts Immunity
The abundant vitamin C and antioxidant compounds make dragon fruit excellent for supporting immune defense. Protect your body against pathogens, prevent colds/flu, and fight foreign invaders with this tropical fruit.
Supports Digestive Health
A good source of prebiotic fiber, dragon fruit may feed the healthy bacteria in your gut microbiome. The fiber content also promotes regularity for a healthy GI system.
Stabilizes Blood Sugar
Studies show the fiber and unique carbohydrate profile of dragon fruit can help slow nutrient absorption, preventing unhealthy blood sugar spikes after eating.
Aids Weight Management
Dragon fruit is high volume and low calorie density, taking up space in your stomach to control hunger while packing in nutrients. The fiber aids weight loss too by promoting satiation.
May Fight Chronic Disease
Early research suggests the unique antioxidant betacyanins that give dragon fruit its color shows promise fighting chronic inflammation, oxidative damage, cancer growth, heart disease, and more.
How to Buy and Store Dragon Fruit
Want to add this eye-catching superfruit to your regular grocery haul? Here’s what to know about choosing perfect dragon fruit and keeping it fresh.
Choosing Ripe Dragon Fruit
Select fruits with vibrant, even coloration free from brown spots. Pink and yellow skin varieties should have bright, rich color while red types will appear more flushed.
Gently squeeze to check for just slight yielding. Overly soft fruits are overripe while hard ones haven’t fully developed flavor yet. Skin will look and feel slightly dry rather than slippery.
Storing Dragon Fruit
Keep fresh dragon fruit whole and dry in the crisper drawer of your fridge. Properly stored, they last around one week. You can also freeze prepared dragon fruit up to 6 months.
How to Cut and Eat Dragon Fruit
Wondering the best way to enjoy this tropical superfruit? Here’s a simple guide to prepping and eating dragon fruit:
Prep Steps
First, cut off both ends of the fruit with a sharp knife to create flat edges. Stand upright and make 4-5 vertical slices just deep enough to reveal inner fruit.
Then, use your knife horizontally to slice off the outer peel starting underneath the flesh near the skin. Or you can break the fruit open into segments with your hands.
Eating Dragon Fruit
Dragon fruit can be enjoyed by gently removing the flesh off segments with a spoon. You can eat the tiny seeds whole - they offer a nice crunch!
Try dragon fruit sliced plain, added to fruit salads, blended into smoothies, frozen into sorbet, and more.
Pair it with leafy greens, yogurt, granola, coconut, lime, berries, melon, and fresh herbs. The mild sweet taste pairs perfectly with both sweet and savory ingredients.
Dragon Fruit Has Unique Benefits for Health
Looking beyond the unusual exterior of dragon fruit reveals many unique wellness boosting properties. With a delicious mildly sweet seeded interior packed with essential nutrients, dragon fruit can be an exotic and nutritious addition your balanced diet.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.
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