Dragon fruit, also called pitaya, is the fruit of a cactus that grows in tropical and subtropical areas, including Asia and Latin America. These fruits have a red or yellow peel with green scales, which may be spiny, and tiny black seeds inside a white, magenta or pink flesh. Dragon fruit provides a number of essential nutrients and has some potential health benefits as well.
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Macronutrients
A small 7-ounce dragon fruit contains 59 calories, 2 grams of protein, 0.4 gram of fat and 14 grams of carbohydrate, including 1 gram of fiber. The carbohydrate in dragon fruit consists mainly of the sugars fructose and glucose. The fiber is made up of mainly oligosaccharides, which aren't digested in the stomach or small intestine. These oligosaccharides act as prebiotics, helping to stimulate the growth of the healthy bacteria lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, which are probiotics, notes an article published in June 2010 in "Food Chemistry." Probiotics help limit the growth of unhealthy bacteria and help with digestion. They may also help treat diarrhea and other intestinal infections, according to MayoClinic.com.
Micronutrients
One small dragon fruit will provide you with 15 percent of the daily value for vitamin C, 10 percent of the DV for potassium, 8 percent of the DV for iron and 1 percent of the DV for calcium. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps limit the damage caused to your cells by free radicals. It is also necessary for healing wounds and producing collagen, which is used to make cartilage, skin, tendons, ligaments and blood vessels. Potassium is essential for digestion and muscle and heart function. You need iron for forming red blood cells to bring oxygen to all parts of your body, and calcium is necessary for strong bones and muscle and nerve function.
Health Benefits
Having high levels of oxidative stress and stiff arteries are two risk factors for heart disease that are often observed in diabetics. Consuming dragon fruit may help improve these conditions, lowering the risk for heart disease. A study involving diabetic rats, published in 2010 in "Pharmacognosy Research," found that dragon fruit extract helped decrease aortic stiffness and the increase in blood pressure caused by stiff arteries. Consuming dragon fruit extract also increased the antioxidants in the rats' blood, which helps to limit oxidative stress.
Use
You can peel dragon fruit and eat it out of hand, or you can use the flesh to make jelly, juice, yogurt, ice cream, pastries or candy. Add cubes of dragon fruit to a fruit salad or smoothie, puree it with lemon juice and freeze it in an ice cream maker to make a sorbet or add pureed dragon fruit to cheesecake filling for a delicious treat.