The Council of Agriculture’s (COA) Taichung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station said it has devised a method of adjusting the lights used to cultivate dragon fruits, also known as pitaya, that allows the fruit to ripen even in winter.
The dragon fruit grows on triangular cactus-like vines, and originated in the tropical areas of the Americas, the station said, adding that it is a relatively new fruit that has become popular in Taiwan in recent years and is mostly harvested in the summer.
However, by using adjusted lights on the plants to manipulate its growth period, the station said that people in Taiwan can now enjoy eating dragon fruits in the winter.
Photo: CNA, provided courtesy of Taichung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station
It added that because the winter dragon fruit grows in colder weather, with drastic fluctuations between day and night temperatures, the growing period is longer than the ones that grow in the summer, allowing it to accumulate more nutrition and an even sweeter flavor.
Dragon fruit farms in Taiwan cover a total area of about 877 hectares, it said.
There are two kinds of dragon fruit pulp: the red pulp tastes sweeter while the white pulp has a more crisp and refreshing texture, the station said.
The fruit contains nutrients such as calcium, iron, phosphorus, B vitamins, vitamin C and dietary fiber as well as betanin, which is an anti-oxidant and helps against aging, it added.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai