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One of the most widely distributed members of the cactus family, and now found on six continents, Dragon fruits are native to Central and South America, where this tropical fruit is widely known as pitaya or pitahaya. Gaining wide popularity recently due to its beautiful appearance with bright red or yellow skin with green scales, and white, red, or yellow flesh with tiny black seeds, the taste is even richer.
Dragon fruit has a mild and sweet taste, similar to a kiwi or a pear perfectly complimenting its creamy texture.
Not only delicious, dragon fruit is also nutritious and beneficial for health. It is low in calories, but high in fibre, vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and antioxidants. It also contains prebiotic fibres that can promote gut health and digestion. Another great characteristic of Dragon fruit is its different varieties and to top it all off, you don’t need a mom’s eye to spot the differences, each dragon fruit variety can be easily spotted just by the colour of its skin and flesh.
So, listed below are the different types of dragon fruit and their health benefits
1. Hylocereus undatus or White Dragon Fruit
This dragon fruit variety has bright red skin with green scales and white flesh with black seeds. It is the most common and widely cultivated type of dragon fruit and is native to Mexico, Central America, and South America, but is now grown in many other tropical and subtropical regions of the world.
2. Hylocereus megalanthus or Yellow Dragon Fruit
With yellow skin and green scales, this dragon fruit variety has a white flesh with black seeds. Native to northern South America, it’s the firmest of the different types of dragon fruits with a richer taste. It is less common and more expensive than the red-skinned type, as it is more difficult to grow and harvest.
3. Hylocereus Costaricensis or Red Dragon Fruit
Being Native to Mexico, this dragon fruit variety is more rare and flavourful than other types of dragon fruits with higher antioxidant properties. Its characteristics are red skin with green scales and red flesh with black seeds.
4. Hylocerus Guatemalensis or Pink Dragon Fruit
With a medium between the red and white dragon fruit, we have another different type of dragon fruit. This dragon fruit variety is essentially a red one itself, just with more of pink flesh, which has a taste somewhere between the sweetness of the red and the neutral of the white.
Here are some health benefits of dragon fruits
1. Rich in nutrients
Some of the health benefits that are constituted along all types of dragon fruits include the richness of Vitamin C which helps boost the immune system, enhances the absorption of iron in our body as well as protects the cells from oxidative stress.
Not just this, all types of dragon fruit also have a higher content of fibre, which not only regulates blood sugar levels but also helps lower your cholesterol. It also contains betalains which are essentially plant pigments with anti-inflammatory as well as antioxidant properties.
2. Hydrating
A greater dosage of water resulting in hydration of the entire body is also a great benefit of incorporating different types of dragon fruits into your daily diet. This higher water content helps to flush out toxins out of your system, resulting in a healthier gut and a better kidney function.
3. Known to prevent chronic diseases
Many types of dragon fruits contain carotenoids which can become an extra layer of protection on the eyes as well as the skin covering you against the harmful UV damage caused by the solar rays overall preventing many age-related diseases. Along with carotenoids, we also have Lycopene, another plant pigment that helps with reduced risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
Some recipes to incorporate all types of dragon fruits into your diet
1. You can enjoy it as a fresh snack or dessert by just cutting the fruit in half and scooping out the flesh with a spoon.
2. For a tasty and fresh smoothie for your mornings, you can blend any dragon fruit variety with bananas, pineapple chunks, mango, and some lime juice. There, you have a refreshing drink within 5 minutes.
3. For a healthy breakfast or a running snack, add the flesh to a fruit salad, yoghurt, or oatmeal.
4. Adding more of a spin to this, you can make a pudding or a mousse with the flesh of any dragon fruit variety, coconut milk, and agar-agar. Chill it in the fridge or freezer and you have a ready dessert.
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