The Pitaya is a jungle columnar cactus that by some chance ended up on our lands, clinging to the ravines, seeking shade and humidity. It is an introduced species but not invasive, since it does not harm the environment. Being a cactus, it requires almost no water, making it ideal for conserving and protecting the environment. Their fertilizers are ecological and at Dragon Ibériko we focus on finding a unique quality, both in size and flavor. 

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Dragon fruit is a fruit known relatively recently in our country. It can be said that the majority of the fruit that has been consumed so far is imported. This is a factor that has hurt more than helped, since it is a fruit that does not ripen after cutting, it must be cut and consumed at its optimal point of ripeness and avoid long journeys for distribution and consumption. This guarantees the consumption of a fruit of better quality, in terms of flavor and texture.

 

Pitahaya, or Pitaya, began to be produced on a large scale in Europe in a small coastal town in the region of Murcia: Águilas. Its origins are important, since this jungle cactus could be found in the surrounding ravines, wild. He was already a native of here long before we knew his fruit. The gardens of the houses in Águilas were entangled with these cacti that, curiously, on some summer nights, produced large, fragrant white flowers. Flowers that opened at dusk and died the next morning, with the first light of dawn and the intense heat of summer. As if it were a magical story.

 

The microclimate of Águilas, so tropical, due to its warm winter days and its humidity, makes Dragon Fruit grow so well. But back then, something was missing from the equation. Even if there were flowers, their pollination was not possible, since in Spain there are no large insects and nocturnal animals that pollinated their flowers and exchanged their pollen as in other countries in Central America, Latin America and Asia.

 

That's when the farmer's hand comes in. It is their hands that, with a small brush, act as nocturnal pollinators. Flashlight in the head and many summer nights worked have managed to position the Dragon Fruit and gain ground in our lands.

 

The concern of our farmers has also moved mountains, because until now, there were not enough studies to be able to know the different varieties, ways of growing, infrastructure... Many hours of study, trips, calls, visits to other greenhouses in other parts of the world... have made knowledge about Dragon Fruit gain ground on the Aquiline coasts, as well as its growing production, which improves year after year in terms of new commercial varieties, notably corroborating the quality of its fruits.