Basic introduction of pitaya

Pitaya huǒ lóng guǒ, whose real name is Qinglong Fruit and Honglongguo. Native to tropical Central America. Pitaya is rich in nutrition and unique in function. It contains plant albumin and anthocyanins, and is rich in vitamins and water-soluble dietary fiber, which are rare in general plants. Pitaya is a triangular column plant of cactus, which is native to tropical desert areas of Central America such as Brazil and Mexico, and is a typical tropical plant. Pitaya is a plant introduced from Nanyang to Taiwan Province Province, and then improved and introduced from Taiwan Province Province to Hainan Province and Guangxi and Guangdong in the southern mainland. Pitaya is named after its fleshy scales resemble those of dragons. When her bright and huge flowers bloom, the fragrance is overflowing, and potted viewing makes people feel auspicious, so it is also called "auspicious fruit".

Pitaya is native to tropical rain forests in Central America, belonging to Ranunculus and Serpentis of cactus. It was introduced to Southeast Asian countries such as Viet Nam, Thailand and Taiwan Province Province of China by French and Dutch. Pitaya has a deep historical origin with religious culture. Pitaya is planted near the Mayan and Inca pyramids in America and next to Vietnamese temples in Asia. Whenever there are sacrifices and major religious activities, they will sacrifice pitaya as a sacred fruit on the altar. What is even more surprising is that pitaya has an indissoluble bond with loong culture in the United States and Asia. The ancient Incas sacrificed pitaya with totems engraved with dragon images. This totem and pitaya both mean dragon in Inca. Even today, indigenous Mexican men like to call themselves China boys, which may be influenced by the legend that their ancestors came to the United States from China.

[Edit this paragraph] The benefits and nutrition of pitaya to human body.

Every100g of pitaya pulp contains 83.75g of water, 0.34g of ash, 0.017g of crude fat, C5.22g of crude protein, 0.21g of crude fiber and 0/3 of carbohydrate. Calcium 6.3-8.8 mg, phosphorus 30.2-36. 1 mg, iron 0.55-0.65 mg, a large number of anthocyanins (the most abundant variety in red fruits), water-soluble dietary protein, plant albumin, etc. Pitaya is sweet, and its main nutrients are protein, dietary fiber, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin C, iron, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium. Its peak period is from June to 165438+ 10. It is planted all over Taiwan Province Province, and the main producing areas are Hsinchu, Yunlin and Chiayi.

From the analysis of modern scientific research, the measuring ruler and pitaya do have many beneficial ingredients for human beings, and there are more elements to promote health, beauty, disease prevention and physical fitness. Since the middle of last century, pitaya has been planted on a large scale in Asia and Latin America. At the beginning of this century, the planting area in Asia has advanced by leaps and bounds, and the corresponding scientific research has also developed rapidly around the world. We believe that measuring ruler and pitaya will bring more ideals and strength to mankind.

The unique mucus of pitaya's branches and flowers, because of its extremely low osmotic pressure, contains a lot of nutrients and therapeutic substances, and has remarkable curative effect. Pitaya has the functions of preventing constipation, promoting eye health care, increasing bone density, helping cell membrane formation, preventing anemia and neuritis, angular stomatitis, reducing cholesterol, whitening skin, preventing dark spots, relieving heavy metal poisoning, resisting free radicals, preventing senile diseases, losing weight and preventing colorectal cancer. The latest research results show that the juice of pitaya fruit and stem has a positive effect on tumor growth, virus and immune response inhibition.

[Edit this paragraph] How to eat pitaya skin?

[1] Pitaya skin doesn't feel astringent like ordinary fruit skin because it doesn't contain organic acids and tannins, but it tastes acceptable because of its rich meat. When eating pitaya, you can scrape off the purple peel with a knife-they can be eaten raw, cold or put into soup like Lady Enforcers. In short, it's a pity to waste pitaya skin when eating pitaya. Pitaya has only one disadvantage-it is not bad or even delicious, but it has no taste, contains neither organic acids nor ester aromatic factors. So its sweetness is monotonous-maybe it can't be liked by some sharp-tongued girls. ...

Pitaya has seven nutritional values.

1. The content of anthocyanin in pitaya is high. Anthocyanin is an effective antioxidant, which has antioxidant, anti-free radical and anti-aging effects, and also has the functions of inhibiting brain cell degeneration and preventing dementia.

2. Pitaya is rich in plant albumin, which is not common in fruits and vegetables. This kind of active albumin will automatically combine with heavy metal ions in the human body and be excreted through the excretory system, thus playing the role of detoxification. In addition, albumin has protective effect on gastric wall.

3. Pitaya is rich in vitamin C, which can eliminate oxygen free radicals and have the effect of whitening skin.

4. Pitaya is a low-energy and high-fiber fruit, which is rich in water-soluble dietary fiber, so it has the effects of losing weight, lowering cholesterol, moistening intestines and preventing colorectal cancer.

5. The iron content of pitaya is higher than that of common fruit. Iron is an indispensable element for producing hemoglobin and other iron-containing substances, which plays an important role in human health.

6. Sesame in pitaya can promote gastrointestinal digestion.

7. The juice of the fruit and stem of pitaya showed positive effects on tumor growth, virus infection and immune response inhibition.

Function of pitaya

Pitaya is a tropical and subtropical fruit with the effect of detoxifying and protecting the stomach, also known as fairy honey fruit and Yulong fruit. It is a plant of Ranunculus and Viburnum of Cactus, which is native to tropical Central America such as Brazil and Mexico. In Asia, it is mainly distributed in Taiwan Province Province, Viet Nam and Thailand. According to different colors, it can be divided into three varieties: red skin and white meat, red skin and red meat and yellow skin and white meat.

Contains vitamins: B 1, B2, B3, C.

Rich in minerals: calcium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, sodium, magnesium, zinc and so on.

Other nutrients: carotene, carbohydrate, crude fat, fructose, glucose, water-soluble dietary fiber, plant albumin, anthocyanin (the most abundant variety in red meat) and so on.

[Edit this paragraph] The Legend of Pitaya

Measuring ruler is a tropical plant of cactus, which is native to Costa Rica, Guatemala, Barama, Ecuador, Cuba, Colombia and other places in Central America. It is not only famous for its longevity, tenacity and beauty, but also an excellent source of nutrition and beauty. According to local legends, the measuring ruler is a powerful symbol of nutrition. An Aztec legend describes in detail how powerful the measuring ruler is for women. When a poor Aztec woman got lost in the hot desert, she couldn't call for help, and the situation was very dangerous. She fell into despair, dying, and slowly entered another world in illusion ... The voice told her to eat the plants next to her quickly! Eat the plants around you! She struggled to stretch out her hand to touch it, but she couldn't open her eyes. She just imagined that there were scattered and stretched rulers around her. There are few other plants in this particularly hot desert. She saw flashing red light in the illusion, dotted with pitaya between the scales measured, like handfuls of burning hunting, and her beating heart was shouting, inspiring her to stick to it! A breeze, millions of young beauties came running to her with huge lilies! ..... In the dream, her hand touched a blow, and she felt groups of swaying fairies and clusters of brilliant flowers changing alternately in front of her eyes, like a thick green ruler. When she magically broke it, her hand was pricked with blood, but she didn't feel any pain. She seemed to be guided by a magical force, mechanically biting this thick ruler. The Aztec woman woke up, her physical strength recovered rapidly, and her almost chapped lips became magically rosy, gradually spreading all over her body like waves, and she walked out of the desert smoothly!

The legend of this Aztec woman has been handed down from generation to generation. The measuring ruler is regarded as fairy grass, and pitaya is also called fairy fruit and honey fruit. No matter its branches, flowers, fruits and roots, it has become an indispensable special crop for local people and has unique medicinal and edible functions. As a sacred symbol, pitaya is respected by the world, and this tradition later spread all over the world with the invasion and expansion of European colonialism. Pitaya belongs to the upper class in the edible plant fruits of human beings, which implies many beautiful ideals of human beings, such as auspiciousness, health, wealth and longevity. Whether visiting relatives and friends or visiting patients, there must be a dragon fruit in the center of the fruit basket you carry with you, which indicates many good wishes. Both national leaders and ordinary people can't do without pitaya when they worship their ancestors. ...

[Edit this paragraph] Pitaya cultivation

Pitaya is a tropical and subtropical fruit with simple cultivation techniques. Sexual preference is warm and humid, and yin tolerance is barren. The optimum growth temperature is 25~35℃, and it can be planted in the open air at a low temperature higher than 5℃. The requirements for soil are not strict, and it can be cultivated in flat land, paddy field, hillside and dry land. It grows well in fertile, well-drained neutral or slightly acidic sandy red soil or loam, with aerial roots, developed roots and extremely vigorous vitality. Propagation methods mainly include cutting and grafting. When planting, the row spacing is generally 6~7m, the plant spacing is 3~4m, 3~4 plants per hole, and 24 ~ 38 holes per 666.7m2 ... In the management process, apply some organic fertilizer appropriately, pay attention to irrigation in hot and dry summer, pay attention to drainage in rainy days, prevent water accumulation and avoid bacterial and fungal infection. General pests and diseases rarely occur, even if a small amount occurs, some pesticides with high efficiency and low toxicity can be used for prevention and control [6]. The flowering and fruiting period of pitaya is May ~165438+1October every year, and the fruit can be harvested when it turns from green to purple.

Development of pitaya Nowadays, the food structure with high fat, high calorie and high protein leads to more and more patients with hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia. Pitaya, which has dual functions of beauty and health care, can be said to be the best choice for people. The flowers and fruits of pitaya can be eaten raw, and can also be processed into various nutritional and health foods, such as pitaya juice, sauce, preserved fruit, canned drinks, etc., with unique flavor. Both flowers and stems can be used as medicine. If the effective components of flowers and stems can be extracted and processed into capsules, pills and other drugs, it will be very effective in treating hypertension and diabetes. In addition, the stem of pitaya is an ideal rootstock for grafting precious cactus. Crab claw orchids and all kinds of weird cacti can be grafted on them to make garden plants for families to watch. The flowers and fruits of pitaya are also very bright, so it can also be directly used as bonsai and garden cultivation.

Pitaya has a short cultivation history in China. At present, only in Taiwan Province, Hainan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian and other provinces, the cultivation area is still very limited. The market price of Chaozhou this year is 6~ 10 yuan, which forms a huge gap between supply and demand. To sum up, the development prospect of pitaya is very broad.

Biological properties

Pitaya is a tropical and subtropical fruit, which is drought-resistant, heat-resistant and light-loving. The requirement for soil quality is not high, and it can be planted on flat land, hillside and sandy land. The optimum pH value of soil is 6-7.5, and it is best to choose land with rich organic matter and good drainage. Pitaya is not frost-tolerant, and it is planted in a simple greenhouse in areas where the temperature is below 0℃ in winter.

Planting pattern

Pitaya can be planted in various ways, such as climbing the wall or building a shed, but column cultivation is the most common, which has the advantages of low production cost and high land utilization rate. The so-called column planting is to erect a cement column or a wooden column, and plant 3-4 pitaya seedlings around the column so that the pitaya seedlings can grow along the column.

Two-season planting specifications

The row spacing of columns is 1.5m×2m. If 4 plants are planted around each column, 750 plants can be planted every 667m2. Pitaya can be planted all year round. Be careful not to plant it too deep. It can be planted about 3cm deep, and the soil should be kept moist at the beginning.

grow seedlings

Pitaya is propagated mainly by cutting seedling or grafting.

1. Transplanting: Spring is the most suitable time. Cuttings were selected from well-grown stems and cut into small pieces with the length of 15cm. After the wound is air-dried, it can be inserted into the sand bed, and it can take about 15-30 days to take root. When the root grows to 3-4cm, it can be transplanted into the seedbed.

2. Grafting seedlings: select a ruler with no pests and diseases, strong growth and full stem flesh as the rootstock, and graft in sunny days. Cut the pitaya stem into a plane with a knife, insert the scion, align it with the cambium, and tie it tightly with cotton thread. Under the condition of 28-30 degrees Celsius, a large number of callus will be formed on the joint surface of the wound in 4-5 days, and the color of the scion is close to that of the rootstock, indicating that the vascular bundles of the two have healed and grafted successfully. At this time, they can be moved into the heel of the seedbed to continue culture.

3. Seedling management: The seedbed should be in a place with sunny ventilation, fertile soil and convenient irrigation and drainage. The whole bed should be carefully ditched, with 90cm and 667m2 of decomposed chicken manure or cow dung1500 kg-2,000 kg, mixed rice husk ash 1000kg, fully stirred and applied during soil preparation. After that, calcium magnesium phosphate fertilizer 100- 150 kg was applied, fully stirred with a hoe, and applied to the plough layer 4-5 cm deep. Then plant the seedlings in a seedbed with row spacing of 3 cm, water them, and spray carbendazim 1 0/0 500 times every10.

Cultivation management

Pitaya is a tropical plant, which likes light, shade, heat, drought, fertilizer and barren. Its stems can also grow on rocks, and its plants are very wind-resistant. As long as the support is firm and can resist typhoon, 300-400 plants can be planted in 667 square meters, and every four plants are supported by a cement column with a width of 20 cm and a height of 2 meters.

Pitaya can adapt to all kinds of soil, but neutral soil and weak acid soil with high humus content and water and fertilizer retention are the best. In order to make it grow vigorously after planting, it is necessary to apply more sterilized and fermented human manure organic fertilizer, calcium magnesium phosphate fertilizer and compound fertilizer at seedling stage, and the dosage depends on the size of the plant.

Pitaya grows rapidly in a warm and humid environment with sufficient light. When cultivated in the open field in spring and summer, it is necessary to water more to keep the root system in a vigorous growth state, and drain water in time in rainy weather to avoid infection with germs and rot of stem meat. Pitaya is resistant to low temperature of 0℃ and high temperature of 40℃. In order to ensure its perennial growth and fruitfulness, and try to reach the appropriate temperature of 20-30℃, greenhouses must be built for planting in the north, and the temperature at night in winter should not be lower than 8℃. Plastic film can be removed in summer, but it must be ventilated. Dragon Orchard doesn't need a plow, just cut the weeds in time. Pitaya has a thick waxy layer, smooth appearance and no bagging, which saves labor and time. Pitaya generally has no insect pests, and occasionally there are nematodes in the roots and red spiders in the stems and leaves, which can be prevented in time.

It takes about 30 days from flowering to fruit ripening. The fruit turns from green to red, and can be harvested when it is slightly fragrant and bright.

Tiantuan management

Pitaya began to blossom and bear fruit 12- 14 months after planting. It can blossom 12- 15 times a year, and the fruiting period is from April to 1 1 month. The fruit ripens 30-40 days after withering, and the single fruit weighs 500-65438. The key points of high-yield cultivation are as follows:

1. Dilute application of thin fertilizer: Due to the long fruit harvesting period, organic fertilizer should be applied again every year, and NPK compound fertilizer should be applied in a balanced way for a long time. Potassium and magnesium fertilizer should be supplemented during flowering and fruiting to promote sugar accumulation and improve fruit quality. Keep the soil moist during the fruiting period, and cover the tree tray with grass or mushroom residue. When the weather is dry, water should be poured every 3-4 days.

2. Glue tapping: Glue tapping when the branches are 1.3- 1.4m, so as to promote branching and make the branches droop naturally.

3. Interplanting and artificial pollination: When planting pitaya, it is necessary to interplant about 10% of white pitaya. Cross-pollination among varieties can obviously improve the seed setting rate. In case of rainy weather, artificial pollination is needed. Pollination can be accomplished by brushing pollen directly on the stigma of female flowers before flowering at night or closing in the morning.

4. Pruning branches: After picking the fruit every year, cut off the bearing branches and let them germinate again to ensure the yield in the coming year.

5. Pest control: Pitaya has fewer pests and diseases, and is vulnerable to snails and ants at seedling stage, so pesticides can be used for control; In high temperature and high humidity season, it is easy to be infected with diseases, and some branches are necrotic and moldy. Triadimefon and strong copper oxide can be used to control it, and the effect is good.

Processing method of pitaya

1. Method for extracting water-soluble red pigment from pitaya pulp and peel.

2. Pitaya wine and its preparation method.

3. A method for extracting water-soluble natural red pigment from pitaya.

4. Production method of pitaya seed health care products.

5. Production method of pitaya peel beverage.

6. Cleaning method of pitaya seed surface.

7. Production method of pitaya branch products.

8. Production method of pitaya beverage.

9. Production method of pitaya pulp beverage.

10, preparation method of pitaya branch beverage.

1 1, pitaya sparkling wine and its production technology.

12, a preparation method of pitaya fruit wine.

[Edit this paragraph] Pitaya cuisine

Small pirate ship

Ingredients: 500g chicken, one pitaya, salt.

Cut the pitaya, dig it out, dice the chicken and stir fry. Stir-fried, put it in diced pitaya and put it in a container made of pitaya.

-The Tree of Wisdom

Pitaya meat-

The eating method of pulp pitaya is similar to watermelon; The pulp contains thousands to more than 10000 sesame seeds. The whole pulp is mixed with honey, fresh milk and ice cubes to make juice. After the seeds are broken, the fragrance is overflowing and it is extremely delicious. Besides making fruit juice, making ice cream or jelly is more delicious. The fruit brewed from pulp is rich in wine.

Stems and skins of pitaya-

The stem and skin of pitaya can be fried with seafood and meat, which is delicious. This is a delicious summer meal.

Pitaya flower-

Pitaya has a large flower shape, with a total length of about 45cm, a corolla of 25cm and a weight of 350 ~ 500 g. It is a veritable "night fairy" and its English name is Night-Blooming Cereus. Each flower of pitaya weighs about half a catty to 1 catty, and can be used for cooking, soup or lettuce salad. After drying, it can be stored for a long time, crispy and delicious. The pitaya flower is boiled in water, added with rock sugar and drunk after freezing, which is more fragrant and mellow than chrysanthemum tea.

The selected pitaya (made in China) has white flesh, delicious taste and milky white. The flesh is red, delicious and bright red.

If lightly pressed by hand, the overripe pitaya will become soft, which may be dangerous to Explosicum after cutting. From the naked eye, domestic and imported products can be distinguished by how many "tentacles" they have. Short and dense, made in China. It's either very dense or imported.

[Edit this paragraph] Pitaya diet

Pitaya sweet potato fragrant milk beverage

Ingredients: pitaya100g, sweet potato100g, 250ml of milk;

Methods: Sweet potato was cut into small cubes and steamed in water. The pitaya is cut into squares the same size as the sweet potato, put in a bowl with the steamed sweet potato, and pour with milk (you can drink sweet milk if you like sweets).

How to eat: A delicious and nutritious breakfast with a poached egg and a proper amount of snacks.

Function: Regular consumption can improve immunity and prevent constipation and intestinal cancer.