Open Access
Subscription Access
Open Access
Subscription Access
Nutritive and Medicinal Value of Dragon Fruit
Subscribe/Renew Journal
Dragon fruit or pitahaya (Hylocereus spp.) is considered as a heavenly fruit on the earth. It is eaten as fresh or dried fruit, as a vegetable, as a fodder, as a natural colouring agent in various drinks and beverages, as a pectin source. Most importantly, being rich in various nutrients, vitamins and minerals and accordingly owing high medicinal values, it is believed to able to lower cholesterol concentration, to balance blood sugar concentration, to prevent colon cancer, to strengthen kidney function and bone, to strengthen the brain workings, increasing the sharpness of the eyes and even used in cosmetic ingredients. In a present investigation attempt has been made to explore the available research studies to prove or disprove the claims of its high nutritive and medicinal values.
Keywords
Dragon Fruit, Pitayaha, Nutritive Value, Medicinal Value, Food Dye, Pectin.
Subscription
Login to verify subscription
User
Font Size
Information
- Ariffin, A. A., Bakar, J., Tan, C. P., Rahman, R. A., Karim, R. and Loi C.C. (2009). Essential fatty acids of pitaya (dragon fruit) seed oil. Food Chem., 114 (2): 561-564. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2008.09.108.
- Esquivel, P., Stintzing, F. C. and Carle, R. (2007). Pigment pattern and expression of colour in fruits from different Hylocereous sp. Genotypes. Innov. Food Sci. Emerging Technol., 8: 451-457.
- Harivaindaran, K. V., Rebecca, O. P. S. and Chandran, S. (2008). Study of optimal temperature, pH and stability of dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) peel for use as potential natural colourant. Pakistan J. Biological Sci., 11(18): 2259-2263.
- Herbach, K. M., Stintzing, F. C. and Carle, R. (2004). Thermal degradation of betacyanins in juices from purple pitaya (Hylocereus polyrhizus [Weber] Britton and Rose) monitored by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric analyses. Eur. Food Res. Technol.,219: 377-385.
- Herbach, K. M., Maier, C., Stintzing, F. C. and Carle, R. (2007). Effect of processing and storage on juice colour and betacyanin stability of purple pitaya (Hylocereus polyrhizus) juice. Eur. Food Res. Technol., 224 : 649-658.
- Mahattanatawee, K., Manthey, J. A., Luzio, G., Talcott, S. T., Goodner, K. and Baldwin, E. A. (2006).Total antioxidant activity and fibre content of select Florida-grown tropical fruits. J. Agric. Food Chem., 54 (19): 7355-7363. DOI: 10.1021/jf060566s.
- Morton, J.F. (1987). Strawberry pear; In:Fruits of warm climates. Center for New Crops & Plant Products, Purdue University, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, West Lafayette, Indiana. pp. 347-8.
- Nur Izalin, M.Z., Kharidah, M., Jamilah, B. and Noranizan, M.A. (2012).High yield of pectin from dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) peel. Proceeding of International Post Harvest Symposium (IPS 2012), 25-29 June 2012, PWTC, Kuala Lumpur.
- Nur Izalin, M. Z., Kharidah, M., Jamilah, B. and Noranizan, M. A. (2016). Functional properties of pectin from dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) peel and its sensory attributes. J. Trop. Agric. & Food Sci., 44(1): 95-101.
- Rahmawati, B. and Mahajoeno, E. (2009). Variation of morphology, isozymic and vitamin C content of dragon fruit varieties. Bioscience, 1(3): 131-137.
- Rebecca, O. P. S., Zuliana, R., Boyce, A. N. and Chandran, S. (2008).Determining pigment extraction efficiency and pigment stability of dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus). J. Biological Sci., 8 (7) : 1174-1180.
- Rodriguez, E. B., Vidallon, M. L. P. and Mendoza, D. J. R.(2016). Health-promoting bioactivities of betalains from red dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus (Weber) Britton and Rose) peels as affected by carbohydrate encapsulation. J. Sci. Food & Agric., 96 (14): 4679-4689. DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.7681
- Ruzainah, A. J., Ahmad Ridhwan, A.R., Nor Zaini, C. M. and Vasudevan, R. (2009). Proximate analysis of dragon fruit (Hylecereus polyhizus). American J. Appl. Sci., 6(7): 1341-1346.
- Stintzing, F.C., Schieber, A. and Carle, R. (2002). Betacyanin in fruits from red-purple Pitaya (Hylocereus polyrhizus Weber) Britton and Rose. Food Chem., 77: 101-106.
- Suryono, J. (2006). Consuming dragon fruit to treat various diseases. Sinar Tani, 15-21 February 2006.
- Swarup, K. R. L. A., Sattar, M. A., Abdullah, N. A., Abdulla, M. H., Salman, I. M., Rathore, H. A. and Johns, E. J. (2010). Effect of dragon fruit extract on oxidative stress and aortic stiffness in streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats. Pharmacognosy Res.,2(1): 31-35. doi:10.4103/0974-8490.60582.
- Tang, P. Y., Wong, C.J. and Woo, K. K. (2011).Optimization of pectin extraction from peel of dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus). Asian J. Biological Sci., 4(2): 189-195. DOI : 10.3923/ajbs.2011.189.195.
- Thirugnanasambandham, K., Sivakumar, V. and Prakash Maran, J. (2014). Process optimization and analysis of microwave assisted extraction of pectin from dragon fruit peel. Carbohydrate Polymers, 112 (4) : 622-626.
- Wichienchot, S., Jatupornpipat, M. and Rastall, R. A. (2010). Oligosaccharides of pitaya (dragon fruit) flesh and their prebiotic properties.Food Chem.,120 (3): 850-857 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2009.11.026.
- Widyaningsih, A., Setiyani, O., Umaroh, Sofro, M. A.U. and Amri, F. (2017). Effect of consuming red dragon fruit (Hylocereus costaricensis) juice on the levels of hemoglobin and erythrocyte among pregnant women. Belitung Nursing J., 3 (3): 255-264.
- Woo, K. K., Ngou, F. H., Ngo, L. S., Soong, W. K. and Tang, P. Y. (2011). Stability of betalain pigment from red dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus). American J. Food Technol.,6 (2): 140-148. DOI: 10.3923/ajft.2011.140.148.
- Xu, L., Zhang, Y. and Wang, L. (2016).Structure characteristics of a water-soluble polysaccharide purified from dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus) pulp. Carbohydrate Polymers. 146 : 1 August, Pages 224-230. DOI : 10.1016/j.carbpol.2016.03.060.
- Hylocereus undatus, N.D. Retreived from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hylocereus_undatus.
Abstract Views: 265
PDF Views: 0