DRAGON FRUIT (PREORDER)

~15 - 20 lbs Dragon Fruit aka "Pitahaya", "Pitaya", "Strawberry Pear", "Thang Loy", "Yellow Dragon Fruit", "Red Dragon Fruit", "White Dragon Fruit", "Huang-Huo-Long-Guo", "Hong-Huo-Long-Guo", "Bai-Huo-Long-Guo", "黄火龙果",  "红火龙果",  "白火龙果", "黃火龍果", "紅火龍果", "白火龍果" Dragon fruit is oblong-shaped with hot pink, red, or yellow skin and large leaf-liked scales on its surface. Its flesh is white or bright purple with lots of juice. The hot pink and red skin variety has flesh with tiny seeds, while the yellow skin variety has flesh with bigger seeds that are still edible. The white flesh hot pink dragon fruit tastes refreshing and mild. The red flesh red dragon fruit is slightly sweeter than the hot pink dragon fruit. The yellow skin dragon fruit is the sweetest of all. Handling Tip Selection Dragon fruit with bright evenly-color skin without any bruises. Petals on the skin are a bright green and yellow color and not wilting. Dragon fruit is firm, plump, and heavy for its size. Storage Dragon fruit should be stored at 50°F (10°C) with a relative humidity of ninety percent and no mist. Yellow dragon fruit is recommended to be stored at 43°F (6°C). The typical shelf life is fourteen days. Dragon fruit is sensitive to chilling injury after two weeks at 43°F (6°C) and then transferred to 68°F (20°C). Symptoms include flesh translucency, softening, wilting, petals darkening, outer flesh browning, and poor flavor. Fruits harvested twenty-five days after flowering are more sensitive to chilling injury (seven days at 43°F/6°C). Fruits harvested thirty to thirty-five days after flowering is less sensitive to chilling injury (seventeen days at 43°F/6°C). Dragon fruit is not sensitive to ethylene, a naturally occurring gas that regulates ripening. Dragon fruit produces a low level of ethylene.