Alan Davidson

Pitaya

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

pitaya the Spanish name for the fruit of Hylocereus undatus and some other closely related cacti, is spelled in various ways and sometimes acccompanied by an epithet (e.g. pitahaya roja or blanca in Mexico and pitahaya de cardón in Guatemala). In English the fruit may be called ‘strawberry pear’ or, more recently, ‘dragon fruit’.

The cacti bearing these fruits are indigenous to C. America, but are now cultivated also in the W. Indies, Florida, and the tropical regions of the Old World.
The oval fruit, up to 10 cm (4") long, may be bright red/crimson, peach coloured, or yellow. The pulp, which is sweet, usually white, and juicy, contains numerous tiny black seeds which give the impression of being scattered at random through it and which are eaten with it.