Chinese researchers develop new two-color dragon fruit variety

The Yangling Vocational and Technical College in Shaanxi has announced a new dragon fruit variety dubbed “New Two Color” (新双色), which has received provincial-level approval. This variety is the result of a five-year collaboration between the college’s scientific research team, the Yangling Qingpita Garden Dragon Fruit Cultivation Professional Cooperative (杨凌青皮她园火龙果种植专业合作社), and the Yangling District Agricultural Products Quality and Safety Supervision Center (杨陵区农产品质量安全监管中心). It is a hybrid of two varieties: Vietnamese white-fleshed dragon fruit as the female parent and the red-fleshed Da Hong variety as the male parent. Weighing an average of 363 grams, the New Two Color variety boasts a sugar content of 19.9%, an acid content of 0.29% and a soluble solid content of 23.5%. Under greenhouse cultivation conditions, it begins to bear fruit in the second year and reaches its highest yields in the third year, averaging approximately 4.2 kilograms per square meter. Bud formation starts ...