Impact of Extraction, Processing,Storage and Packaging Conditions on the Antioxidant Activity of Dragon Fruit (Pithaya) -A Review

The use of natural products as food is increasingly being used medicinally as a result of rising consumer demand. One such naturally occurring fruit from the Cactaceae family is called "Dragon fruit," and its exceptional antioxidant properties havehelped it gain increasing notoriety in recent years. Antioxidants are compounds that can delay, slow down, or even completely prevent food from developing rancidity or other oxidative flavor deterioration. The dragon fruit possess significant nutritional value due to the abundance of antioxidants such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, and betalain, present in its pulp, peel, seeds, and leaves. Antioxidants become a significant component to retain preservation technology and modern therapeutic applications of dragon fruit. The objective of this study is to collect information on the antioxidant activity of dragon fruit during each stage of processing, including extraction, in vitroand in vivomodels used to estimate antioxidants, drying, thermal treatment & color effect, storage, transportation, and packaging. It is evident that peels exhibit the maximum degree of antioxidant activity and the DPPH assay is the most popularly used in vitromodel. The recommended storage temperature formaximizingshelflifeis5 degrees C,whereas contemporary extraction techniques like UAE and MAE exhibit enhanced antioxidant activity