Development of Dragon Fruit Leather (Red-fleshed) by Using Peel as a Byproduct Waste Utilization

The peel of dragon fruit is a waste. The meat of dragon fruit is the most frequently consumed; the peel is rarely used and is only wasted. The natural antioxidant lycopene may be found in the skin of dragon fruit. Dragon fruit skin can be processed to make herbal tea. This study aims to ascertain the yield, moisture content, and organoleptic testing to produce dragon fruit peel tea and the effects of adding cinnamon, ginger, and lemon zest. The research treatments included lemon zest at 40%, ginger at 14%, and cinnamon at 6% concentrations. Three treatment levels and three replications were employed in the fully randomized design (CRD) for data analysis. According to the study's findings, the best way to treat a dragon fruit peel herbal tea bag that contains 6% cinnamon powder was to know how adding cinnamon, ginger, and lemon zest to the process of making dragon fruit peel tea affects the yield, moisture content, and organoleptic test. According to the respondents' liking, the taste test scored 3.91%, scent 3.88%, and color 4.45% (loved) (liked). Based on SNI 3836.2013 about tea quality criteria, which stipulates that the maximum moisture content included in tea powder is 8%, a yield of 8.64%, and a moisture content of 0.48% satisfy the tea quality requirements. Keywords: dragon fruit peel, cinnamon, ginger, lemon zest, red dragon fruit peel tea

In this study, we investigated the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phytochemicals and paramagnetic species in dragon fruit using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). HPLC analysis demonstrated that dragon fruit is enriched with bioactive phytochemicals, with significant variations between each part of the fruit. Anthocyanins namely, cyanidin 3-glucoside, delphinidin 3-glucoside, and pelargonidin 3-glucoside were detected in the dragon fruit peel and fresh red pulp. Epicatechin gallate, epigallocatechin, caffeine, and gallic acid were found in the dragon fruit seed. Additionally, 25–100 mg × L−1 of dragon fruit pulp and peel extracts containing enrichment of cyanidin 3-glucoside were found to inhibit the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), reactive nitrogen species (RNS), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in cell-based studies without exerted cytotoxicity. EPR primarily detected two paramagnetic species in the red samples. These two different radical species were assigned as stable radicals and Mn2+ (paramagnetic species) based on the g-values and hyperfine components. In addition, the broad EPR line width of the white peel can be correlated to a unique moiety in dragon fruit. Our EPR and HPLC results provide new insight regarding the phytochemicals and related stable intermediates found in various parts of dragon fruit. Thus, we suggest here that there is the potential to use dragon fruit peel, which contains anthocyanins, as a natural active pharmaceutical ingredient.

This work investigated the potential of generating biogas from mono-digestion of various substrates such as food and fruit waste (e.g., durian shell, dragon fruit peel and pineapple peel) and co-digestion in different combinations of a co-substrate as food waste as well as different types of fruit waste (durian shell, dragon fruit peel and pineapple peel). The mixture of food waste and fruit waste ratio varied as follows: 75:25, 50:50 and 25:75, which was based on weight. The batch experiments were carried out using 125 ml anaerobic digesters and were incubated for 50 days. For a mono-substrate, food waste produced the highest amount of methane gas (60.63 ± 1.02 ml/gvs) followed by durian shell (34.93 ± 1.30 ml/gvs), pineapple peel (31.70 ± 1.60 ml/gvs), and dragon fruit peel (30.12 ± 1.20 ml/gvs), respectively. The highest amount of methane gas came from food waste mixed with durian shell (FW75:D25), and it was on a higher level than food waste mixed with dragon fruit peel (FW75:DF25) and pineapple peel (FW75:P25). The highest methane gas production of co-digestion which was observed at the proportion of food waste and durian shell was 75:25 and produced higher content of methane gas than the highest methane gas production of mono-digestion (food waste) according to the high organic compound and optimum pH value in the system. The results showed that the co-digestion of durian shell and food waste improved methane production and reduced the startup time compared with their mono-digestion. On the other hand, pineapple peel was not suitable for co-digestion with food waste due to a decreasing pH value in the system.

Pectin has numerous applications in the food industry because of its gelling capability. Dragon fruit peel is an ideal source of pectin since it contains pectin of around ± 10.8% of the weight. In this research, the extraction of pectin from dragon fruit peels used ultrasonic waves. This study was an experimental research with three independent variables that was a type of acid (HCl and CH3COOH), acid concentration (0.1 N and 0.2 N), and extraction time (30, 60, and 90 minutes). The control sample was pectin extracted by conventional methods, dipped in 0.1 N acids at room temperature for 24 hours. The result showed that the ultrasound-assisted extraction was an effective method to extract pectin from peels of red dragon fruits, whereas the yield was even twice that compared with the control sample. The treatment of 90 minutes of sonication in 0.2 N HCl produced the highest yield (2.71%). The pectin has a yellowish to a white degree of color and a 2.22 g.s/cm viscosity. It has a 902.2 mg equivalent weight, 6.14% methoxyl content, 54.4% galacturonic acid content and 63.8% esterification degree. The value of esterification degree and methoxyl content indicated that pectin from this research is high ester-pectin and low-methoxyl pectin.

The dragon fruit peels are discarded despite the high content of bioactive components such as phenolic, flavonoid, betacyanin content, and antioxidant activity. Drying these peels to powder for use as an infusion might aid in its valorization. Therefore, this study aimed to assess effects of drying peels at three different temperatures (50°C, 60°C, and 70°C) on retention of bioactive compounds in the resulting powder. For this, dragon fruit peels were cut into 2.5 cm length and 3.0-3.5 mm thickness and dried at three temperatures until the moisture content reached around 5%. Then the dried peels were ground, and sieved through a 40-mesh size screen. Proximate analysis and bioactive components were determined for fresh and dried dragon peel powder prepared for infusion. A sensory evaluation of infusion was conducted by steeping 1.5 g of dried dragon fruit peel in 50 ml of hot water (90°C) for 5 min, using a 9-point hedonic scale. The results showed that peel dried at 50°C retained significantly higher amounts of bioactive compounds with a total polyphenol content of 64.9 mg GAE/100g extract, total flavonoid content of 56.34 mg QE/100 g extract, and betacyanin content of 52.34 μg/100 g dry matter extract. Moreover, the extract of peel powder dried at 50°C exhibited 77.37% DPPH radical scavenging activity at a concentration of 2.8 mg/ml. In addition, sensory panelist significantly preferred the infusion prepared from the peels dried at 50°C to those dried at other temperatures. This study suggests that processing dragon fruit peels into powder for infusion preparation is a viable strategy to reuse peels that would typically be discarded.

Dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus) peel, an abundant agricultural by-product in Vietnam, is rich in dietary fiber but often underutilized, leading to resource waste. This study aimed to optimize the extraction of soluble dietary fiber (SDF) from dragon fruit peel under acidic conditions and to characterize its structural and functional properties for potential food applications. The effects of solid-to-liquid ratio, pH, temperature, and extraction time on SDF yield were systematically investigated. Optimal extraction conditions were identified at a solid-to-liquid ratio of 1:37.5 (w/v), pH 2.5, 80 °C, and 60 minutes, resulting in an SDF yield of 14.54 ± 0.50%. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the polysaccharide structure of both SDF and insoluble dietary fiber (IDF), while scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that SDF exhibited a porous and amorphous microstructure, in contrast to the dense, fibrous morphology of IDF. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis further demonstrated the amorphous nature of SDF and the partial crystallinity of IDF, indicating distinct structural functionalities. Functional assessments showed that SDF had a water-holding capacity of 21.25 ± 0.34 g/g, an oil-holding capacity of 3.85 ± 0.54 g/g, and a swelling capacity of 32.36 ± 1.06 mL/g. These findings suggest that SDF extracted from dragon fruit peel possesses favorable structural and physicochemical characteristics, making it a promising candidate for incorporation as a functional ingredient in food systems. The study also supports the valorization of agro-industrial by-products, contributing to sustainable development and waste reduction in the food industry.

The removal of the peel on dragon fruit fruits is a common step in food production for reasons of aesthetics and hygiene. One way to recycle dragon fruit peel is to make chicken meatball. Chicken meatball in Indonesia, which is called bakso are produced from ground chicken mixed with flour, spices and other mashed ingredients. The mixture is then formed into balls and boiled until cooked. Chicken meatballs contain mostly animal ingredients, so the quality needs to be improved by adding vegetable ingredients. The addition of vegetable ingredients is intended to increase the content of dietary fibre. The fruit fibres used in this study were dragon fruit peel and the vegetable ingredients was oyster mushrooms. The results showed that chicken meatball with higher concentration of dragon fruit peel has higher level of soluble dietary fibre, insoluble dietary fibre, and total dietary fibre content. This indicates that dragon fruit peel has higher levels of soluble dietary fibre, insoluble dietary fibre, and dietary fibre than oyster mushrooms. The addition of dragon fruit peel and oyster mushrooms causes an increase in iron and calcium mineral levels in chicken meatball products, but oyster mushrooms contribute more to increase these minerals. With these nutritious chicken meatballs, dragon fruit peel can be processed to become food that has economic value. Therefore, dragon fruit peel and oyster mushrooms can be used as a good ingredient in the formulation of chicken meatball.

This study examines the use of dragon fruit peel (DFP) powder as a dietary supplement on growth performance, immune responses, and gene expression of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, cultured within biofloc systems. A total of 300 Nile tilapia fingerlings (14.64 ± 0.09 g) were subjected to five dietary treatments, with DFP added to a basal diet at doses of 0, 20, 40, 80, and 160 g kg−1 DFP. Growth and immunological responses were assessed after 4 and 8 weeks of feeding, and the transcriptional level of immune and antioxidant‐related genes was measured after 8 weeks. Fish fed diets containing DFP exhibited significantly greater weight gain, faster growth, and enhanced levels of key indicators of immunity than control fish (p < 0.05). A diet containing 40 g DFP kg−1 produced the best result in terms of growth, enhanced immune response indicators in skin mucus and blood serum, and the upregulation of IL‐1, IL‐8, LBP, GPx, GST‐α, and GSR expression (p < 0.05). Based on the quadratic regression analysis, the optimum concentration of DFP was 80 g kg−1. These findings collectively suggest that powdered DFP may serve as a promising feed supplement for Nile tilapia raised in biofloc systems.

Dye wastewater from textile industries shows very low biodegradability due to high molecular weight and complex structures of dyes. So far, the most simple method for treatment of this type of wastewater has been coagulation and flocculation. This study determined the removal of turbidity and other pollutants from dye wastewater by mucilage extracted from the peel of dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus) and its effect in reducing synthetic chemical polyaluminum chloride (PACl) used in coagulation and flocculation (CF) process. The removal of turbidity in a sequent CF process using PACl and dragon fruit mucilage was investigated based on Jar tests. Maximum coagulation efficiencies of PACl were typically observed at pH 4.0-6.0 and PACl concentrations of about 100-150 mg/L depending on types of wastewater, whereas optimal settling times were 30-60 minutes, respectively. The addition of dragon fruit mucilage (0.5-50 mg/L) after PACl (75-245 mg/L) resulted in turbidity removal efficiencies up to 95%. The addition of mucilage extracted from dragon fruit peels was proven to increase turbidity removal efficiency and decrease PACl use. The increase of turbidity removal was often estimated at 10-32%, whereas PACl used was about 3-10% less compared to total PACl needed for obtaining comparable efficiency when used alone. The flocculation activity of mucilage was also compared to polyacrylamide (PAM)—a synthetically organic flocculant. Since the peel of a dragon fruit is an abundant agriculture waste in Vietnam, using its extracted mucilage as a flocculant is an environmentally friendly method.

Biodegradable films from dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) peel pectin and potato starches crosslinked with glutaraldehyde

Smoking behavior has become an urgent global health problem, leading to an increased risk of various chronic diseases and posing a significant health burden on society. In the context of efforts to prevent and reduce the negative impact of smoking, the role of prebiotics and antioxidants is increasingly being paid attention to because of their potential to improve gut health and counteract the negative effects of free radicals produced by exposure to cigarette smoke. Based on the description of the impact of smoking and the exploration of the health potential of banana peel and dragon fruit peel, this research will focus on the formulation of herbal candies. This study is experimental research with a post-test and a control group design. Dragon fruit and banana peels are extracted and evaporated until they form a paste, and then antioxidant and prebiotic activity is measured. After that, the basic formulation of herbal candies is determined and tested organoleptic. The test results were obtained. The best formulation based on the highest value was found in the FPKB3 treatment with values of color parameters of 5.76 (active smokers) and 5.86 (passive smokers), aroma 5.6 (active smokers) and 5.56 (passive smokers), taste 5.96 (active smokers) and 5.6 (passive smokers), and texture 5.66 (active smokers) and 5.76 (passive smokers).

Dragon fruit, also known as pitaya or strawberry pear, is a vine cactus species belonging to the family Cactaceae. There are three species of dragon fruit in the genus Hylocereus and one species in the genus Selenicereus. Varieties of dragon fruit, including Hylocereus undatus, Hylocereus polyrhizus, and Hylocereus megalanthus. Vietnam, China, and Indonesia are the three major countries contributing to more than 93% of the world's dragon fruit production. In India, dragon fruit cultivation has increased significantly in recent years, with major states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal promoting commercial production. Dragon fruit thrives in tropical climates with an optimum temperature range of 20°C to 30°C and well-distributed annual rainfall of 100- 150 cm. It prefers light acidic soil with a pH ranging from 5.5 to 6.5. The fruit is rich in various nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fibers, making it a beneficial superfood for weight loss, diabetes control, cholesterol reduction, and strengthening the immune system. Dragon fruit has a short shelf life and should be stored at around 10°C with 93% relative humidity to maintain its quality and freshness for up to 15 to 17 days. Various value-added products can be derived from dragon fruit, such as dragon fruit jelly, jam, seed oil extraction, and even the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles from dragon fruit peel. Overall, dragon fruit is a versatile and nutritious fruit that has become a significant economic fruit species worldwide, catering to the growing demand for exotic and health-promoting foods.

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of adding dragon fruit(Hylocereussp) peel juice (DFPJ) to drinking water on the percentage of carcasses, and external and internal offal organs of free-range village chickens (White Gold &Lamcy). The study was carried out foreight weeks using a completely randomized design, which included 16 units (four levelsof DFPJ andfour replications of each, withfive birds per replication, for a total of 80 birds). The following treatmentswere given: R0: no DFPJ, R1: 5% DFPJ, R2: 10% DFPJ, and R3: 15% DFPJ in 1liter of drinking water. The variables observedwere: carcass percentage, and the percentage of external and internal offal organs.The results showed that the percentage of carcasses of the native chickens reared in free range were significantly different with the R2 and R3 treatments, while the R0 and R1 treatments had no effect on the internal and external offal organs of the chickens. It can be concluded that giving 10% or 15% dragon fruit peel juice through drinking water can have a significant effect on chicken carcass percentage, whereas using 5% does not have an effect. Keywords: carcass, dragon fruit (hylocereussp) peel extract,free- range, offal organs.

The dragon fruit (Selenicereus sp.) peel is a viable plant source for the extraction of polysaccharides such as pectin, the demand for which has increased significantly in the food and pharmaceutical industries. In Nayarit, Mexico, the Queen Purple variety of dragon fruit (Selenicereus cf. guatemalensis) is commonly cultivated. The peel is typically discarded, while only the pulp is utilized for direct consumption or processed into derivative products. The objective of this study was to characterize the properties of pectin extracted from the peel of dragon fruit (Selenicereus cf. guatemalensis ‘Queen Purple’). The yield, molecular weight, anhydrouronic acid content, betalain content, antioxidant capacity, and phenolic compounds were determined using gravimetric, volumetric, spectrophotometric, and colorimetric techniques, among others. Furthermore, the functional groups and degree of esterification of the pectin were identified using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The pectin presented a yield of 12.8%, esterification degree of 49.85%, molecular weight of 645 kDa, anhydrouronic acid, phenolic acid and betalain content of 98.27%, 195.7 mg EAG/100 gDW and 4.26 mg/100 gDW respectively and an antioxidant capacity of 149.6, 192.76 and 20.5 mg EAA/100 gDW by the DPPH, ABTS and FRAP methods respectively, classified as high-purity, low-methoxyl, intermediate-molecular-weight, with an important betalain content and antioxidant capacity. Based on these findings, the extracted pectin complies with the Food and Agriculture Organization specifications and shows promise as a functional ingredient in the food industry.

Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate the influences of variety and flowering time on physio-morphological and chemical characters of Dragon fruit. Research Method: Two varieties (BAU Dragon fruit 1 and BAU Dragon fruit 2) and four flowering times (May, June, July, and August) were selected for this investigation. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with five replications. Findings: Significant variations were observed between two varieties of Dragon fruit. It was found that BAU Dragon fruit 2 exhibited better performances on studied parameters as compared to BAU Dragon fruit 1. It was observed that at 38 days after fruit setting (DAFS), BAU Dragon fruit 2 produced highest fruit length (10.01cm), fresh weight (307.94 g/fruit), dry weight (24.85 g/fruit), pulp weight (168.98 g/fruit), peel weight (91.32 g/fruit) and total soluble solids (TSS) (25.16% Brix) as compared to another variety. The combine effects of variety and flowering time showed that August flowering of BAU Dragon fruit 2 produced maximum fruit length (10.74 cm) and peel weight (115.65 g/fruit) while May flowering of BAU Dragon fruit 2 produced maximum fresh weight (456.50 g/fruit), pulp weight (302.12 g/fruit), moisture content (94.63%) and TSS (27.17 %Brix) as compared to other flowering time. In terms of time required to fruit maturity, August flowering BAU dragon fruit 2 matured earlier (30.6 days) than June flowering (35.04 days). Research limitations: Evaluation of more varieties of dragon fruit was a research limitation. Originality/value: These findings reveal that flowering time irrespective of variety has direct effects on fruit growth and development of Dragon fruit.