PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF DRAGON FRUIT

Dragon fruit, also known as pitaya or Selenicereus, a climbing cactus, is a tropical fruit native to Central America but grown in various parts of the world. It is one of the tropical fruits, belonging to the cactaceae family. There are many varieties of Dragon fruit for commercial cultivation in the state of Telangana They are.1. Selenicereus costaricensis (Red pulp with red skin).2. Selenicereus purpusii (Pink pulp with pink skin).3. Selenicereus undatus (White pulp with pink skin). The Dragon fruit plant has long, vining, and succulent -like stems that can grow up to several meters length (Balenders and Bengoa 2019). These stems have aerial roots and require support, such as a trellis or study structure, to climb and grow (Pushpakumara et al. 2005). The stems are triangular, approximately 16-19 inches across clinging to tree trunks by many aerials roots. The leaves tend to droop, which might result in wilting. The plant will be classified on the photosynthesis in the form of C3 and CAM cycle. In CAM Plants stomata are open at night and they absorb carbon di oxide, in night instead of day time.