Posts Tagged: pitahaya

*Artichokes from Mars* turning up at farmers markets

Los Angeles Times food writer David Karp dubbed the exotic fruit pitahaya "artichokes from Mars" in a story which drew inspiration from a UC Cooperative Extension field day held last month at the UC South Coast Research and Extension Center.

Karp described pitahaya - also known as dragon fruit - as flaming pink, spineless cactus fruits, with neon magenta flesh and a mild, sweet flavor. They have tiny, edible black seeds, similar to a kiwi's.

UC's resident pitahaya expert is Small Farm Program advisor Ramiro Lobo, based at the Cooperative Extension office in San Diego County. He has a test planting at the Research and Extension Center with 19 varieties. Because pitahaya, which grows on climbing cacti, requires less water than avocados, they may be an alternative crop for farmers faced with water shortages. The annual pitahaya field day this year was attended by 140 home gardeners and farmers who may be interested in cultivating the unusual fruit in California.

Much of the locally grown pitahaya is sold at farmers markets and some of the pitahaya found at grocery stores is imported. According to Karp's story, USDA permitted Vietnam farmers to export irradiated pitahaya fruit to the U.S. However, the fruit's short shelf life requires it be shipped by air, an expensive endeavor.

Mexico also presents competition for U.S. pitahaya growers. Currently farmers there grow 5,000 acres of pitahaya, and USDA permits exports from fruit-fly-free districts to the U.S.

"Most of the plantings (in Mexico) currently are not in such areas, but if that changes, the fruit may become as common as mangoes here," Karp wrote.

Artichokes from Mars (Photo: Wikipedia Commons.)

Garden writer blogs about UC dragon fruit festival

The beautiful color and exotic shape of dragon fruit is being produced successfully in Southern California backyards and on small farms thanks to the work of UC Small Farm Program advisor Ramiro Lobo, based at the UC Cooperative Extension office in San Diego County.

Lobo will once again host backyard gardeners and farmers at the 2009 Dragon Fruit Festival and Field Day Saturday, Aug. 29, at the UC South Coast Research and Extension Center near Irvine. The event was publicized by the Village Voice blog, Roger's Pick.

Dragon fruit is native to Mexico, Central, South America and parts of the Caribbean. It's flesh can be white, pink or magenta depending upon variety, according to Roger's Pick writer Roger Boddaert. The magenta flesh, he writes, contains lycopene, a natural antioxidant believed to fight cancer, heart disease and lower blood pressure.

Next Saturday's festival will include:

• Tour of pitahaya research field plots
• Presentations by Lobo and other experts
• Lunch
• Pitahaya fruit tasting, brix measurements and cutting distribution

For more information about the festival, click here.

Lobo speaks at last year's Dragon Fruit Festival.

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