When dragon fruit season rolls around, chef Jessica Slama jumps at the chance to add to it her menu at Marinade on Main in Ramona. The farm-to-table restaurant, owned and operated by Slama and her husband, Travis, relies on the bounty of local and seasonal produce. Each summer, she looks forward to having dragon fruit star in a panna cotta, for example, or brighten a special-event salad. Slama and others call it a fruit with a hidden bonus. “Dragon fruit is really high in antioxidants and has a high fiber content,” Slama says. “There are a lot of health benefits to it—and it’s delicious.” In fact, many people see the exotic-looking produce as a nutritional powerhouse. “The fruit is excellent and there are many health attributes that it possesses,” says Ramiro Lobo, a farm advisor with the University of California Cooperative Extension who conducts research into dragon fruit. The list of benefits includes vitamin C, protein, iron and other key nutrients, says Betsy Brixey, who grows the cactus with her husband, Kevin, on Dragon Delights farm. Most often, the fruit is eaten fresh and chilled. Betsy Exotic fruit packs a nutritional punch
The tip of the trend The Brixeys aren’t the only ones. Dragon fruit is an emerging crop in California, according to Ramiro Lobo, farm advisor with the University of California Cooperative Extension. He estimates Golden State acreage at about 500 with roughly a dozen growers in the San Diego area. Lobo, a researcher and authority on dragon fruit, has helped cultivate interest in the vining cactus through his shared expertise and evaluation of different varieties. “California dragon fruit is the best you can buy anywhere,” he says. Dragon fruit—more common in South and Central America, Southeast Asia and Mexico—has been a popular backyard plant for years in Southern California and especially in the Southeast Asian community, he says. Now, commercial growers are increasingly interested because it can adapt to many Southern California micro- climates, command a good price and use less water. Beneath those exotic scales, the flesh of dragon fruit can be different shades of red, pink, purple, yellow and white, for example, and is peppered with edible black seeds. Most fruit weighs in around the 1-pound mark. Texture and taste differs according to the variety, with some flavors leaning more sweet, tart or floral, for example. “There’s a dragon fruit for everyone,” Lobo says.
says cooking dragon fruit can diminish its flavor and nutritional value, so she gravitates to cold preparations such as smoothies, ice cream and sorbets, for example. One recent addition to the farm line-up is Dragon Delights Dehydrated Dragon Fruit, which offers a slightly more concentrated flavor. The dehydrated fruit is sold in 2-ounce packages— about the size of a snack bag of chips— and “has been very popular,” Betsy says. She began experimenting with dehydrated fruit as a good use for “seconds” and fruit without a market. As a bonus, she says, the new product assures that “I can eat dragon fruit all year long.”
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