Fruits
Dragon Fruit in gelato
Dragon fruit (pitaya, Hylocereus spp.) is a tropical cactus fruit whose mildly sweet, seed-flecked pulp is about 82% water with roughly 11-12% simple sugars. In gelato it works as a high-water fruit base for vivid magenta or speckled-white sorbets and fruit gelati.
Balancing parameters
Per 100 g of product, verified against independent food-science sources (listed below).
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Total Solids | 17.5% |
| Water | 82.5% |
| Sugars | 11.5% |
| Fat | 0.4% |
| MSNF | 0% |
| Protein | 0.9% |
| POD (sweetening power) | 12.5 |
| PAC (anti-freezing power) | 21.6 |
Typical use: 25-35% of the mix as puree in sorbets and fruit gelati
Balance dragon fruit in a real recipe
Free balancer · no signup wall · watch PAC, POD and Total Solids update live as you add it.
Open the balancerHow to use it in gelato
Use dragon fruit as a fruit puree, typically as the flavoring base of a sorbet or fruit gelato. Its sugars are dominated by glucose and fructose (sucrose under 2% of sugars), giving a high anticongelant power (PAC ~21.6 per 100 g of pulp) relative to its modest sweetening power (POD ~12.5), so a puree-heavy recipe softens the scoop and must be offset with lower-PAC sugars or added solids. Sweetening power is low, so extra sucrose is usually needed to reach target Brix. Flavor is delicate, so pair with lime, citric acid or berries to lift it. Red-fleshed varieties add natural betalain color but bleed magenta.
Origin & background
Dragon fruit comes from cacti native to Mexico and Central America, later spread by Europeans to Southeast Asia, where Vietnam and Thailand became major producers; the widely grown red-skinned Hylocereus undatus is documented across these regions in horticultural reviews of pitaya cultivation.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- USDA FoodData Central — Dragon fruit/pitaya (SR Legacy 'Shared foods'): water 82.44 g, total sugars 12.0 g, total carbohydrate 16.24 g, fiber 1.8 g, fat 0.21 g, protein 0.68 g per 100 g — https://www.nutritionvalue.org/public_ingredient_69220.html
- Bayram et al., 'Nutritional Analysis of Red-Purple and White-Fleshed Pitaya' — red flesh: glucose 7.52%, fructose 3.70%, total sugars 11.25%; white flesh: glucose 5.22%, fructose 4.97%, total sugars 10.24% (fresh wt); moisture ~80% — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8839306/
- Review, 'Maturation Process, Nutritional Profile... of Red Pitaya Fruits' — glucose 39.7%, fructose 29.3%, sucrose 1.9% of total sugars; glucose+fructose dominant — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8618204/