Good news for dragon fruit farmers: the Provincial People's Committee has just recognized 30 outstanding rural industrial products/product sets of Binh Thuan province for 2024 to participate in the selection of outstanding rural industrial products in the Southern region in 2024, including 10 products processed from dragon fruit.
The products participating in the selection of typical rural industrial products processed from dragon fruit include: fermented red dragon fruit products; 100% pure dragon fruit juice; a set of dried red and white dragon fruit products; a set of red and white dragon fruit wine products; Bao Long dragon fruit juice; a set of Khai Hoan white and red dragon fruit wine products; a set of Pitayana white and red dragon fruit wine products; dragon fruit seed oil; a set of dragon fruit flower tea products; and dried dragon fruit flowers. Dragon fruit is identified as a key crop and specialty of Binh Thuan province. Dragon fruit production plays a crucial role in the province's agricultural and rural economic development, with over 33,000 hectares and more than 30,000 farming households involved in the production, procurement, processing, and export of dragon fruit, annually creating regular employment for 70,000-80,000 workers. Furthermore, the export value of dragon fruit from Binh Thuan accounts for a high proportion of the total value of fruit production. Despite the large area and production volume, the price and market for this product remain unstable. This is because, following the traditional practice of farmers and businesses – planting dragon fruit and transporting it by road to the Chinese border for informal sale – the cycle of bumper harvests leading to low prices continues. Especially during the peak season, due to the large production volume, prices are very low. Coupled with increasingly demanding foreign markets requiring dragon fruit to meet specific standards, the market for dragon fruit is not guaranteed. On the other hand, the shelf life of dragon fruit is quite short without proper preservation methods. Although businesses and farmers have been advised to switch to specialized dragon fruit cultivation meeting VietGAP and EUROGAP standards for export to European, Japanese, American, and Taiwanese markets, farmers still cultivate dragon fruit using traditional methods, resulting in continued price instability.
Currently, dragon fruit from Binh Thuan is mainly consumed fresh in the market. Therefore, investing in deep processing and diversifying dragon fruit products is essential. To diversify dragon fruit products, many companies and cooperatives in the province have researched new products from dragon fruit, creating new outlets for the fruit. To address this difficulty, many solutions have been proposed, including processing products from dragon fruit. Accordingly, many businesses have begun researching and developing products from dragon fruit flowers and fruits, which have initially yielded positive results. The story of bread and instant noodles made from dragon fruit has also inspired many businesses to invest in processing other dragon fruit products. These processed dragon fruit products are not just a fleeting trend, but are expected to contribute to a long-term market for this agricultural product. In fact, many research projects on processing dragon fruit products have been conducted, and some have achieved certain successes. Recent studies have shown that the peel and flesh of dragon fruit, especially red-fleshed dragon fruit, contain many polycyclic compounds that can be used in high-tech fields such as betanin, phyllocactin, hylocerenin, etc. In particular, the peel of dragon fruit contains a high concentration of betacyanin; these color compounds are applied in many fields such as medicine, environment, and food. Therefore, to increase the value and improve the economic efficiency of dragon fruit, many researchers aim to efficiently extract color compounds from dragon fruit and apply them to the production of high-quality products, enhancing product value and guiding applications in the food and environmental sectors.
It can be said that research into producing products from dragon fruit has opened up many new avenues for gradually exploiting its potential, increasing its value, and enabling the fundamental development of this commodity, bringing higher economic efficiency to growers. This will also eliminate the situation where farmers face price drops due to bumper harvests, and will promote the diversification of post-harvest processing of this key export fruit to create clean products for domestic and export consumers.
Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/tin-vui-cho-nguoi-trong-thanh-long-123549.html
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