DESARROLLO DE LA PITAHAYA (Cereus SP.) EN ECUADOR

Abstract

The pitahaya (Cereus sp.) is an exotic tropical fruit, widely distributed in America and even present in the Asian continent. In Ecuador is located in the provinces of Pichincha, Morona Santiago and Loja. It is a climbing shrub whose fruit is a berry with a taste appeal. It is known that this plant has been used as a living fence or ornamental form by their morphological characteristics, however the nutritional characteristics have taken more prominence in the last decade because has been found that the fruit shows the property of being a complete nutritional food. The most important characteristic is its high content in bioflavonoids and concentration of fatty acid plus fiber, minerals and vitamins showing adjuvant effects on cardiac and gastrointestinal problems. Unfortunately few studies about the benefits of this fruit have been carried out in the country. In fact, the lack of research study by national researchers is due to the commercial competition with other fruits apparently more interesting such as banana, tree tomato and cacao.La pitahaya (Cereus sp.) es una fruta exótica tropical, ampliamente distribuida en América e incluso presente en el continente Asiático.En Ecuador se encuentra en provincias como Pichincha, Morona Santiago y Loja. Es un arbusto trepador cuyo fruto es una baya deatractivo sabor. Se conoce que esta planta ha sido empleada como cerca viva o de forma ornamental por sus características morfológicas,sin embargo sus características nutricionales han tomado más realce en la última década ya que le atribuyen la propiedad de serun fruto alimenticio completo. Las más relevantes, su alto contenido en bioflavonoides y la concentración de ácidos grasos, ademásde fibra, minerales y vitaminas los mismos que presentan efectos cardiotónicos y coadyuvantes en problemas gastrointestinales. Lamentablementeen el país se han generado escasos estudios acerca de los beneficios de esta fruta, debido a la competencia comercialcon otros frutos aparentemente de mayor interés como el banano, tomate de árbol y cacao