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Pitahaya
 Dragon
fruit is known as cactus apple, pitaya, pitahaya, thanh long. Plants in
the cactus family, Cactaceae, originated in America. The plants were
used for many purposes, but one of major importance is the fruit as a
food source. Fruit was collected from naturally established stands.
Later, cuttings were taken from highly productive plants and grown
around houses. The cacti with edible fruit are now grown widely in
several countries around the world.
There are several
species of dragon fruit, but the most widespread is Hylocereus undatus
(Haworth) Britt & Rose, a climbing cactus thought to be from the
tropical rainforest of Central and northern South America, is one
species that has been used as a food source. It has already received
word-wide recognition as an ornamental plant for the large, scented,
night-blooming flowers. Its fame is now spreading throughout the world
for its fruit, especially in Vietnam, Israel and Australia.
 The French introduced
H. undatus to Vietnam about 100 years ago, where initially it was grown
exclusively for the king and later for wealthy families. More recently,
it has been established as a backyard and orchard plant, providing fruit
to the local and export markets in South East Asia and Europe. H.
undatus has been grown on a large scale since 1990 and is an attractive
product for foreign consumers.
Dragon fruit is mostly
grown in three provinces in South Vietnam: Binh Thuan, Tien Giang and
Long An. Production of dragon fruit in the year 2000 was 77,322 tons
with 5,860 ha and increase at 20% per year in growing areas and at 27%
in production. Taiwan, China, Singapore and Hongkong are major markets
for Vietnamese dragon fruits. Details are shown in table 1 and table 2.
Before 1996, dragon
fruit was only harvested from April to September (main season) but since
1996 a second fruiting season is possible using light to extend the
daylight to induce flowering. The second season begins in November and
ends in March. The main season shared 61% of whole year production.
Table 1: Area
and production of dragon fruit in South Vietnam (Tien & Tuan 2000) |
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