Dragon Fruit and Durian - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 568

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Dragon Fruit and Durian

Muhammad Siddiq and Muhammad Nasir

INTRODUCTION
Dragon fruit and durian are grown in a number of countries
in tropical and subtropical regions. Compared to major trop-
ical and subtropical fruits, these two fruits are lesser known;
nonetheless, they are significant in and around the areas of
their production. The most common use of these fruits is
for the fresh markets, with very limited commercial pro-
cessing. Few small-scale processed products are available,
mostly in the countries producing these fruits. One area
with a potential growth is minimally processed or fresh-cut
dragon fruit. Furthermore, given the antioxidant-rich nature
of these fruits, there is a greater potential for developing
value-added products, especially for the export markets in
North America and Europe, where the demand for exotic
fruits has been growing in recent years. This chapter covers
production, postharvest physiology, storage, nutrition, and
processing aspects of dragon fruit and durian.

year-round (Fig. 30.1). In many parts of the world, it is
also grown as an ornamental plant, used in gardens as
a flowering vine and as a houseplant indoors. Countries
of current production include Indonesia (especially west-
ern Java), Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri
Lanka, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Japan (Okinawa), south-
ern China, northern Australia, and USA (Hawaii), (Anon,
2011a). Its fruit is the most beautiful in the Cactaceae,
with a bright red skin studded with green scales (Gunasena
et al., 2007).

Production and varieties
Dragon fruit is produced on segmented, vine-like crawling
cacti, which require a warm climate with higher rainfall but
thrive well in semiarid areas as well. Typically, the fruit
needs a rainfall of 600-1300 mm (24-52 in) and temper-
atures as high as 38 ◦ -40 ◦ C or 100 ◦ -108 ◦ F (DFB, 2011;
Jacobs, 1999). Dragon fruit requires cross-pollination for
fertilization and flowering. The plant can survive very short
periods of frost but cannot withstand long exposures to
freezing temperatures. Durian fruit sets 30-45 days af-
ter flowering and can have up to five to six harvest cy-
cles (Weiss et al., 1994; Anon, 2011a). Fruit production of
20-25 tons/hectare is common; however, in Vietnam, yields
of as high as 30 tons have been obtained by some farmers
(Anon, 2011a).
At optimum maturity, the dragon fruit has a bright
red/pink color with variable flesh color (white, crimson,
or pale-yellow), depending on the cultivar. The flesh is
interspersed with small black seeds regardless of the flesh
color (Barbeau, 1990; Anon, 2010; Wichienchot et al.,

DRAGON FRUIT
Dragon fruit or pitaya ( Hylocereus undatus [Haw.]) is
a tropical/subtropical fruit native to Mexico and Cen-
tral/South America (Haber, 1983; Wichienchot et al., 2010).
The dragon fruit, also known as strawberry pear, thang loy
(Vietnamese), pitaya roja (Spanish), and la pitahaya rouge
(French), grows on climbing cacti (Paull, 2004). In Cen-
tral America, its cultivation dates back to the 13 th century.
It has also been grown in Asia (Vietnam) for over 100
years, following its introduction by the French (Mizrahi
et al., 1997). Dragon fruit is a member of the Cactaceae
family; it is characterized by railing cladode stems (mod-
ified to act as leaves) and bears impressive ovoid fruits