Types of Dragon Fruit

When we think about dragon fruit the first thought that comes to our mind might be a pink skin oval fruit, with big scales that transforms into a sweet soft white flesh with very tiny and crunchy black seeds scattered through the pulp. But the truth is, dragon fruits comes in a variety of different colors, flavors, textures and scents.

There are 3 types of dragon fruits which are white, red and yellow. White dragon fruits are the most widely grown type. Red dragon fruits have a higher content of sugar and are popular for making juices while yellow ones are said to be the sweetest ones and the newest type in the market.

Pink dragon fruits are also a common “type” but they are technically red dragon fruits. Despite this, in this article we will treat them as a separate type. If you are planning on growing a dragon fruit, this article will be very helpful, as depending on the cultivar the plant may require different care due to pollination.

If we just focus on flesh, there are 2 main types of Dragon fruits, red and white. White dragon fruits are the most common type as they tend to be bigger and have tastier seeds. Meanwhile, Red dragon fruits are sweeter and smaller, both are thought to originate from Central America.

On the other hand, if we just focus on the skin of the dragon fruit, we will be left with Yellow and Pink Pitayas (other name for dragon fruit). Although there are some dragon fruits whose flesh is more similar to pink than red, these are technically considered red dragon fruits.

For this article we will take into account the flesh more than the skin color, as it’s easier to associate the dragon fruits with their flesh than with their skin. Despite this, yellow dragon fruit will have a category on it’s own, as it has it’s own specie.

Below we will see the different types of dragon fruits, going from white, red, pink and yellow and a brief explanation of their different varieties.

White Dragon Fruit

White dragon fruit is the most widely grown type. Having either a pink or yellow skin, this pitaya possesses a textured flesh often compared to kiwi and pears, crunchy black seeds, and is perfect for fruit salads or to just eat them straight from hand.

These are some of the different white dragon fruit varieties:

White Dragon Fruit Varieties

Guyute: Native from Central America, this is a medium sized sweet cultivar that tends to have a weight between 0.5-1 pounds, it is self pollinating and the fruit will set fruit without the need of a partner.

Lake Atitlan: This cultivar is native from Guatemala, it provides medium sized fruits whose weight goes from 0.75-1 pounds, the taste of the fruit is sweet and somewhat tangy. It it a self pollinating cultivar and will set fruit by itself.

Delight: Originated in California, this is also a medium sized cultivar with a weight that goes around 0.5-1 pounds. It is sweet and this one will also set fruit by itself as it doesn’t require cross pollination.

Seoul Kitchen: This Pitaya comes from Florida, it has a sweet flavor with a bright pink skin color. It usually weights between 0.5-1 pound and this cultivar doesn’t require cross pollination.

Harpua: Coming from Central America, this cultivar has a weight that goes around 0.75-1 pounds. It has a semisweet flavor and it doesn’t require cross pollination.

Thompson: Original from California it is a big cultivar that can weight between 0.75-1.5 pounds. It has a sweet flavor and it doesn’t require to be cross pollinated.

Alice: Another original from California. The fruit can weight between 0.5-1 pounds and it has a semisweet flavor. This one does require to be cross pollinated to be able to bear fruit.

Neitzl: Also native from California, this cultivar has a mean weight of 0.75-1 pounds. It has a sweet flavor and it doesn’t need to be cross pollinated.

David Bowie: This cultivar is native from California and it sure has a cool name. This one has a weight that goes between 0.5-1 pounds and as the Lake Atitlan cultivar, it has a sweet and tangy flavor, it doesn’t require to be cross pollinated to bear fruit

Vietnam Jaina: As it’s name suggest, this cultivar comes from Vietnam. It typically weights around 0.5-1.5 pounds and it has a semisweet flavor. It doesn’t require to be cross pollinated

L.A Women: This cultivar comes from California. it is a pretty big one and it weights around 0.75-1.5 pounds with a sweet taste, nevertheless, it is said to give a bad aftertaste, so it’s not very popular. It also needs to be cross pollinated to bear fruit.

Red Dragon Fruit

The next type in the list are red dragon fruits. These are very good at providing a great amount of antioxidants (such as the color suggest). This type comes with a greater amount of sugar and it is very useful at the time of adding color to juices.

Here are some red dragon fruit varieties.

Red Dragon Fruit Varieties

Name	Origin	Size	Weight (pounds)	Flavor	Skin Color	Cross Pollination
Costa Rican Sunset	Costa Rica	Small	0.25-0.5	Semisweet	Pink	Yes
Bloody Mary	California	Small	0.25-0.5	Semisweet	Red	Yes
Red Jaina	Florida	Medium	0.5-0.75	Semisweet	Dark Pink	Yes
Zamorano	Honduras	Medium	0.5-1.0	Sweet and mild	Red	No

Costa Rican Sunset: Again, as the name suggest, this cultivar comes from Costa Rica. It provides pretty small fruits whose weight goes around 0.25-0.5 pounds and it’s said to have a good flavor. It needs to be cross pollinated to bear fruit.

Bloody Mary: This cultivar is originated in California. It is also pretty small as it weights between 0.25-0.5 pounds. It has a semisweet flavor and it needs to be cross pollinated to bear fruit.

Red Jaina: Coming from Florida, this cultivar has dark pink skin and scales. Its weight goes around 0.5-0.75 pounds and it has a semisweet flavor, it also needs to be cross pollinated to bear fruit.

Zamorano: Native from Honduras, this cultivar weight goes between 0.5-1 pounds and it has a sweet kind of mild flavor. This one doesn’t require to be cross pollinated.

Pink Dragon Fruit

As we said earlier, this type of dragon fruits are technically in the Red Dragon Fruit types, but as we are taking into account the flesh color, and these cultivars flesh are more pink than red, it will have it’s own category.

These are some of the pink dragon fruit cultivars.

Name	Origin	Size	Weight (pounds)	Flavor	Skin Color	Cross Pollination
Purple Haze	California	Very Large	1.0-2.0	Sweet, Kiwi/Grape	Dark Pink	No
Voodoo Child	Florida	Very Small	0.15-0.25	Sweet, Grape like	Dark Pink	No
Halley’s Comet	California	Very Large	1.5-2.0	Sweet	Dark Pink	No
Makisupa	Central America	Medium	0.75-1.0	Sweet, Slightly Astringent	Dark Pink	No
American Beauty	Guatemala	Medium	0.5-1.0	good flavor, Refreshing	Dark Pink	No
Dark Star	California	Medium-Large	0.75-1.25	Mild, Grape like	Pink	No
Physical Graffiti	California	Large	0.75-1.5	Sweet	Dark pink	No
Cosmic Charlie	California	Medium-Large	0.75-1.25	Grape/Kiwi like	Pink	No

Purple Haze: This cultivar is native from California. The variety provides some of the biggest fruits weighting 1-2 pounds with a pretty sweet flavor, similar to a kiwi or a grape. It doesn’t need to be cross pollinated to bear fruit. Probably one of the best cultivars and with the most potential.

Voodoo Child: This cultivar is native from Florida. Despite it’s sketchy name, this variety actually provides one of the smallest cultivars, weighting between 0.15-0.25 pounds per fruit. it has a sweet flavor that assembles to grapes, and it doesn’t need to be cross pollinated to bear fruit.

Halley’s Comet: This cultivar is native from California. It provides very big fruit that can weight from 1.5-2 pounds and it has a sweet flavor. Doesn’t require to be cross pollinated. Another cultivar with lots of potential.

Makisupa: This one is native from Central America. The fruit of this cultivar weights between 0.75-1 pounds and it has a sweet, slightly astringent flavor. Doesn’t need to be cross pollinated to bear fruit

American Beauty: This model is native from Guatemala. It’s fruits weight between 0.5-1 pounds and it is said to have a good flavor, very refreshing and similar to watermelons. It doesn’t need to be cross pollinated to bear fruit.

Dark Star: Another Californian cultivar. It’s weight goes between 0.75-1.25 pounds and it has a mild grape-like flavor. It doesn’t need to be cross pollinated to bear fruit.

Physical Graffiti: Native from California, this cultivars fruits weights between 0.75-1.5 pounds, they have a sweet flavor and it doesn’t require to be cross pollinated.

Cosmic Charlie: This cultivar native from California, bears fruit with a weight of 0.75-1.25 pounds. They have a flavor similar to the ones of a kiwi or a grape and it doesn’t need to be cross pollinated to bear fruit.

Yellow Dragon Fruit

To finish, we have the Yellow Dragon fruits. This type of dragon fruits are pretty unique and probably the newest in today’s market. They are among the sweetest ones in the family and have a very distinct flavor.

Unfortunately, the information I was able to find about yellow dragon fruits is somewhat limited, probably because they aren’t as popular as the other types of dragon fruits, so I won’t be able to provide the same statistics as with the other ones.

Yellow dragon fruit: Yes this is the name. There is only one variety known from the Genus Selenicereus. It’s weight goes around 0.5-0.75 pounds and it is a self pollinating cultivar. This cultivar is among the sweetest and most flavorful ones but it also has thorns on the skin itself.

Ecuador Palora: This cultivar is native from Ecuador. It is a medium sized fruit and it can reach a weight of about 0.75 pounds. It is related to Yellow Dragon fruit and it has similar taste and looks, it has fewer thorns and it doesn’t need to be Cross Pollinated.

Golden Israel: This cultivar is native from Israel. It is a very large fruit that can weight 1.5+ pounds. It has a sweet and Tangy flavor and it needs to be Cross Pollinated to bear fruit.

I know there are more cultivars, but I rather keep it this length for now, when there’s more information available I will update this list. I hope this article was useful for you!