Cut-up dragon fruit can be kept fresh on the fridge for up to 48 hours if you don’t intend to eat it immediately. Keeping dragon fruit in the fridge for a few days won’t cause it to spoil, but if you want to prolong its shelf life—you shouldn’t cut it until you’re ready to eat it.
There is a lot of misunderstanding about how to properly preserve and ripen dragon fruit. However, when at its pinnacle of ripeness, dragon fruit is a sweet and juicy snack with many distinct flavors.
They, like other fruits, can be left uncut on the counter for a few days without spoiling. Although cut dragon fruit keeps well in the fridge for up to a week before turning brown, dragon fruit is best gulped after being cut.
If you want to eat your dragon fruit later, take the meat from the skin and put it in the refrigerator once you’ve sliced it. Put the dragon fruit in a plastic bag or an airtight container for long-term storage. If you want to keep your cut-up dragon fruit in its container, there should be as little air in it as feasible.
Read more of our Iupilon blog to learn different storage techniques to extend your dragon fruit’s shelf life: “Does dragon fruit go brown,” “Do I need to refrigerate dragon fruit,” and “Does dragon fruit spoil.”
Can You Refrigerate Cut Up Dragon Fruit?
Although stored in a chilled airtight container, cut-up dragon fruit will likely go bad within only a few days. In contrast, drizzle some lime juice over the dragon fruit; it will stay fresh and not rot as rapidly.
How Long Does Sliced Dragon Fruit Last In The Fridge?
Sliced dragon fruit has a concise shelf life even after it is placed inside a fridge. Because of this, you should store your dragon fruit in the fridge in an airtight container if you don’t plan on eating it all at once.
The prickly leaves that protect dragon fruit are deceptive; they are pretty easy to slice through. Therefore, if you want to enjoy this fruit at its peak of freshness, you should eat it as immediately as possible once you cut it, as its shelf life drops dramatically after being cut.
In the fridge, dragon fruit can be kept fresh for up to two weeks. After that, you can store it in the fridge to delay ripening, but if you leave it out on the counter, it will ripen typically even after being refrigerated.
Dragon fruit can be frozen after being cut into cubes and used in smoothies later. Putting dragon fruit cubes on waxed paper and freezing them solid will do the trick. If the ice cubes are placed in a sealed plastic bag, they can be preserved in the freezer for up to six months.
How Do You Know If Dragon Fruit Is Spoiled?
- You can tell if your dragon fruit is ripe or not by its aroma, but that’s your last line of protection. The average dragon fruit has a mild flavor and a muted scent. But if it starts to rot, it can give off a foul stink and needs to be thrown away.
- You may also tell if your fruit is rotten or not by looking at the color on the inside. A spoilt dragon fruit, for instance, develops a darker brown inside. You can tell the difference in color by slicing the fruit in half, and if you find any imperfect pieces that are a darker shade, you should discard them out.
- The dragon fruit’s meat will turn brown as it rots, and the leaves may develop a dark green color. This can happen when the fruit is exposed to high temperatures or direct sunshine.
- You can also tell something is wrong with your dragon fruit by tasting it. Good dragon fruit should have a mildly sweet, syrupy flavor. If your dragon fruit doesn’t taste sweet and sour, throw it away. Dragon fruit that has gone bad might be harmful.
- Don’t let your dragon fruit become too ripe, as its flavor will suffer. You can forget about storing any cut-up fruit for more than a day at room temperature.
How Do You Keep Cut Dragon Fruit Fresh?
- Select a pink or gold dragon fruit. Make sure there are no cuts, scars, or areas of discoloration on the skin. Dragon fruit that has been left out in the sun for too long tends to develop a mottled appearance.
- Inspect the stem of the dragon fruit. Pick crops that have stems that aren’t woody but yet flexible. Ripe fruit, on the other hand, will have a flimsy stem.
- Look for a dragon fruit with a rainbow of hues on its petals. Any that have turned brown at the tips should be discarded.
- Feel how rigid the dragon fruit skin is by pressing your finger into it. A ripe dragon fruit will have the firmness of an avocado and the little yielding of a ripe avocado.
- When stored in a vacuum-sealed jar in the refrigerator, dragon fruit can stay fresh for up to two weeks.
- Dragon fruit is less likely to take on the aromas and scents of other foods in the fridge if it is kept in an airtight container. Washing dragon fruit prematurely causes it to spoil more quickly.
- If you store cut dragon fruit in the fridge in an airtight container, it will keep for up to two days. Sprinkle little lemon juice on them to slow their spoilage.