Quality Management of Dragon Fruit: a Case Study of an Amateur Orchard in Thailand

摘要

Dragon fruit give certain health benefits including Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) relief. It has also been claimed to have many health benefits in the cyberworld; recently it was titled "super fruit" of the month of August and "super fruit" of 2013.It is essential to produce good quality fruit for the market at least in accordance to GAP and domestic fruit standard in reference to Codex Standard for Pitahayas. This paper informs about the early period of dragon fruit industry in Thailand. Problemsof pests, cultural practices, harvesting indices, harvesting tools and other factors that affect fruit quality are presented in line with quality management. The development of good quality dragon fruit production of an amateur, semi-commercial orchard is discussed.