• History:

“The fruit is native to Central America. It is known as Pitahaya in Mexico and as Pitaya roja in Central America and northern South America. Pitahaya is the Spanish name for fruiting vines of Central America. The fruit was introduced in Vietnam by the French over a hundred years ago. According to some, the French took the fruit from Nicaragua and Colombia while others said they brought it from Guyana (South America) in 1870 as an ornamental plant. For its large attractive flowers which bloom only at night, the flamboyant plant is also known as "moonflower" or "lady of the night".

When the Vietnamese discovered the plant's tasty fruit, they cultivated it for food, just as the Mexicans did. The Vietnamese now regard this fruit as indigenous, especially the white flesh variety, Hylocereus undatus, or called Blue Dragon or thanh long by the Vietnamese. Only of late was the fruit grown in Vietnam on a large-scale as a commercial crop. As one of Vietnam's most profitable crops, it is exported to markets all over the Southeast Asia. The commercialisation of the crop is also catching up in Thailand, New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii.”

• Geographical locations:

The fruit is Native to Mexico, and was relocated all over Central America. It’s now however being cultivated in countries such as:

·         Asia (East, South, Southeast) such as:

     o   Cambodia

     o   Thailand

     o   Taiwan

     o   Malaysia

     o   Vietnam

     o   Sri Lanka

     o   Philippines

     o   Indonesia

     o   Bangladesh (recent)

·         Okinawa (Prefecture of Japan)

·         Hawaii

·         Israel

·         Australia (in the North)

·         China (in the South)

·         Cyprus (island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea)

•  Botanical Family:

Pitahaya also known as “Dragon Fruit” refers to the fruit of the genus Hylocereus. A few species have large edible fruits which are referred to as Dragonfruits. It gets its genus name from the word cerus derived from Latin word cera, which means “wax” or “torch-like”.

Hylocereus is a genus of cacti which refers to a night-blooming cactus. It belongs to the kingdom of Plantae, of the order of Caryophyllales, from the family of Cactaceae and the subfamily of Cactoideae. This puts them in the tribe of Hylocereeae and henceforth the genus of Hylocereus.

As of July 2013 however it has become uncertain rather Hylocereus is a distinct genus.

• Market pricing and seasonality:

-Seasonality:

The plant can handle temperatures up to 40 C (104 F). It can survive to very short period of frost. It has adjusted to be able to live in dry tropical climates with moderate amount of rain. The fruit appears on the tree 30-50 days after flowering and can have 5-6 harvest cycles per year. Since it doesn’t have a set season some farms (such as ones in Vietnam) can produce up to 30 tons of fruit per hectare per year.

-Market pricing:

According to world renowned website Alibaba.com, the fruit can sell for $ 600-1,000 per ton (2014). Another website linked to the University of Florida has published an excel spreadsheet saying that a box of 10 lb can sell at a price of approximately 35$ (2013).