Sunday, September 26, 2021

Dragon Fruit Table Wine

 Dragon Fruit Table Wine 

Dr Abe V Rotor 
Dragon fruit table wine in the market.

The first time I saw dragon fruit and tasted it was some 25 years ago when Cecille my wife brought from Vietnam the queer looking fruit associated with the legendary
monster. It was tasty all right, but not as sweet as our local fruits like mango and banana.  It didn't have any special flavor or aroma. But it was refreshing, especially in hot weather.  I compare its taste with other cactus fruits like Opuntia or prickly pear which grows in arid areas. 

Leo Carlo our youngest son planted the tiny seeds in a plant box and soon he was giving the tiny spiny cactus seedlings to friends, among them a neighbor of ours, Brother Pacing Calub, who was able to grow it on his backyard. I took the photos of the maiden flower which is shown here.  It's a beauty, immaculate white flower that opens only at night, another mystery of this plant..

In the following years dragonfruit or Pitaya became acclimatized, particularly in the Ilocos region and on the uplands of Cavite and Bataan. New species and cultivars were introduced as well, like the red and yellow ones. It is the red that is preferred in the market today. Small plantations were put up on sandy and arid farms near the sea coast, but it is on the backyard that dragonfruit has found its home as a garden crop or simply as an ornamental for its uniqueness as a clinging cactus on trunk of trees on concrete walls, or simply on trellises and pergolas.  
  
    Dragon fruit flowers. Courtesy of Brother Pacing Calub,  Photos taken at his backyard QC 

 
Fruiting Dragon Fruit climbing on a palm tree;  Fruit of white-fleshed Pitaya.  (Internet photos). 

Hylocereus undatus (Pitaya blanca or white-fleshed pitahaya) has pink-skinned fruit with white flesh. This is the most commonly seen "dragon fruit". Hylocereus costaricensis (Pitaya roja or red-fleshed pitahaya, also known as Hylocereus polyrhizus) has red-skinned fruit with red flesh. Wikipedia 
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Dragon fruit — also called dragon pearl fruit, cactus fruits, pitahaya or pitaya — is a tropical, delicious superfood that can do a lot for your health. In fact, dragon fruit benefits include anti-aging, immune system boosting and sugar stabilization, which is helpful for those with diabetes, among others.
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Dragon Fruit Nutrition Facts
100 grams of dragon fruit 

50 calories
11 grams carbohydrates
1.1 grams protein
0.4 gram fat
3 grams fiber
20.5 milligrams vitamin C (34 percent DV)
1.9 milligrams iron (11 percent DV)
0.05 milligram vitamin B2 (3 percent DV)
0.04 milligram vitamin B1 (3 perent DV)
22.5 milligrams phosphorus (2 percent DV)
8.5 milligrams calcium (1 percent DV)
0.16 milligram vitamin B3 (1 percent DV)

    Dragon Fruit Wine 
    Making table wine from dragon fruit is quite tedious, but the procedure is similar to that in making table wine from guava, mango, pomelo, guyabano, and other tropical fruits in season. 

    I have added recently dragon fruit wine as part of our family enterprise, which is  principally engaged in Basi wine making, a fine tradition in the Ilocos.  The Galleon trade which lasted for two centuries carried basi wine among tobacco, indigo, and local wheat, all grown in Ilocos during that period.  Ciudad Fernandina, now Vigan City, was a major port of the Galleon Trade. Even before the Philippines was already trading with China, Borneo, Malaysia and other Asian countries.  

    It took considerable research if basi making can be expanded into fruit wine making. Today there are fruits wines from Duhat, Strawberry, Bignay and now Dragon fruit, among others, in the market -  thanks to today's technology.
     
     
      
    Stages in making Dragon Fruit table wine: Top:  well riped fruits are selected and peeled. Middle row: the pulp is mashed with sugar to raise the sugar content, water is added, fermented with yeast (15 days) and aged (preferably 12 to 24 months) in earthen or (burnay).  Bottom row, bottled product, closeup showing crystalline red color. Alcohol content ranges from 10 to 12 percent, equivalent tp 20 to 24 proof.

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