Yield and Fruit Quality Traits of Dragon Fruit Cultivars Grown in Puerto Rico

Abstract

Dragon fruit (Hylocereus sp. and Selenicereus sp.), also referred to as pitahaya or pitaya, is a member of the Cactaceae family and native to the tropical forest regions of southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. Its fruit is becoming increasingly popular as consumers seek healthy and more diverse food products. The crop adapts to different ecological conditions ranging from very dry regions to wet ones receiving more than 3500 mm of rainfall per year. U.S. commercial production of dragon fruit occurs mainly in Florida, southern California, and Hawaii. As growers learn more about this crop and how productive it can be, the acreage planted is likely to increase. Twelve dragon fruit cultivars grown on an Oxisol soil were evaluated for 5 years under intensive management at Isabela, PR. There were significant differences in number and weight of fruit per hectare among years. Cultivars exhibited an increase in fruit number and yield from 2010 to 2013 and then leveled off or declined. There were significant differences among cultivars for number of fruit and yield per hectare. Cultivars N97-17 and N97-15 produced significantly more fruit averaging 74,908 fruit/ha. Significantly higher fruit yield was obtained by cultivars N97-17, N97-20, N97-22, and NOI-13 averaging 17,002 kg·ha−1. Cultivar Cosmic Charlie had the lowest fruit yield, averaging only 25.1 kg·ha−1. Individual fruit weight was significantly higher in cultivars N97-20 and NOI-13 with fruit weight averaging 346.3 g. Cultivars NOI-16, N97-18, and Cosmic Charlie had significantly higher fruit soluble solids than others, averaging 17.4%. Some of the cultivars used in this study have shown horticultural potential and may serve as new planting material for growers.

Phenotypic Diversity of Morphological Characteristics of Pitahaya (Selenicereus Megalanthus Haw.) Germplasm in Colombia

“…In this study, the genotypes showed the shape of margin between areolas between concave and right, contrary to that reported in other studies on different species of Hylocereus, where the predominant forms were convex, with the presence of wax [8]. The cladode width and distance between areoles corresponded well with earlier studies from México [23], India [8], Puerto Rico and Colombia [6,[18][19][20].…”

“…The presence of a high number of natural pollinators such as honey bees in the field plays a major role in fruit set in pitahaya fruits [27]. Total soluble solids, being the most desirable characteristic for consumer preference, is measured as Brix, which can be affected by a set of factors, such as genetic, climatic, soil, and management, among others [6]. In the present study, the SS ranged between 12.43% and 16.97%, representing better fruit quality that evidenced the earlier report that SS values between 11 and 15% have good market preference [18].…”

“…and Megalanthus spp. [6,8,20], which is favorable for future breeding studies. The availability of this information would be of great assistance in developing an appropriate method for the cultivation of a particular species [29,30].…”

“…Generally, differences in pitahaya germplasm can be easily shown with some distinguishing phenotypic characteristics, such as fruit size, fruit color, and number of spines at the areola that formed on branch/stem segments [6]. Nowadays, it is very difficult to separate species and varieties of the dragon fruit because of high intra and interspecific hybridization that has created some taxonomical confusion worldwide [7].…”

Dragon Fruits as a Reservoir of Natural Polyphenolics with Chemopreventive Properties

“…Because of their increasing consumption, new places of harvesting have been considered in different regions of the world such as Australia, Israel, or Reunion Island [ 1 , 2 ]. Hylocereus plants are generally hardy, easy to cultivate and quickly produce the fruits [ 1 , 2 , 3 ], and are resistant to damage during the transport. The fruits may be stored at 8 and 10 °C in good condition and this temperature exerts a protective effect on their quality during storage [ 4 ].…”