Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Dragon Fruit Hylocereus polyrhizus (Weber) Britton and Rose from Different Locations of Nepal

Abstract

The objective of the study were to identify the variation in the physico chemical characteristics of dragon fruit species Hylocereus polyrhizus randomly collected from the four districts of Nepal namely., Chitwan, Sunsari, Morang and Sankhuwasabha. Physico - chemical observations were recorded immediately after harvest. Data were collected for fruit pulp, diameter, size, moisture content, dry matter content, pH, soluble solids, reducing sugar, ascorbic acid, titratable acidity and total carbohydrate. The results revealed that the fruit samples collected from Sunsari recorded the highest moisture content (86.81%) which was at par with samples from Sankhuwasabha (86.44%). Dry matter content ranged from 13-15 % among the fruits collected from all the four locations. Average fruit pH was found slightly acidic within the location variation with the highest pH value recorded in the samples collected from Chitwan (5.47). TSS value ranged from 11.7 to 14.70˚ Brix across the different sites. The fruits collected from Sunsari and Morang districts had a significantly trace amount of titratable acidity with an average of 0.57% while the rest of the fruits collected from other locations ranged from 0.6 – 0.7%. Ascorbic acid was found rich in the samples collected from the Sankhuwasabha district (7.80 mg-100g.). Reducing sugar was recorded maximum in fruits collected from Morang district (9.64 mg-100g). The highest carbohydrate content was recorded in the samples collected from Sunsari district (11.36 mg-100g). From the present investigation it can be concluded that the physico- chemical characteristics of Hylocereus polyrhizus showed differences in the results among the samples collected from the four different location.