To test the sweetness of dragon fruits, you can use a little tool called the BRIX refractometer (or Br for short). It measures the sugar content in the juice. On this Brix scale, Brix 1 means there is 1 gram of sucrose sugar in 100 grams of juice. For dragon fruits, the sweetness often goes from Brix 10 to Brix 20 and more.
A Brix refractometer looks something like this:
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To test the sweetness, you can first cut open your dragon fruit. Scoop out a little piece & mash it until it's a bit watery. Then, scoop some of that juice & put it on your Brix meter. Some recommend that we put in no flesh, no seeds, and only the juice. It's not a strict rule however.
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After pouring the juice on, you can look through the eyepiece:
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Inside it, there is the Brix reading score:
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The Brix scale goes from 0 to 30. There are two distinct parts: the yellow & the blue. Where the yellow part stops is the reading for our dragon fruit's sweetness.
In this case for example, it shows about Brix 29.4, which is high. But this is an example. In reality, the sweetest dragon fruits may get a score of 20.
Dragon fruits with a Brix 20 or slightly higher are super sweet already. Sometimes, it may be around 15 but the taste is still very good.
In the table below is the Brix score & the sweet taste of dragon fruit:
| Brix | Dragon fruit sweetness | Variety |
|---|---|---|
| 18-20+ | Super sweet | Ecuador Palora |
| 15-17 | Medium sweet | - |
| <15 | So so | - |
Testing the sweetness of the Asunta variety:
>> Link video:
Pitahaya Asunta 5A Brix refractometer costs around $20. Here's a good one:
| Good Brix meter |
|---|
 |
| Easy to use |
| Built in Brix scale |
| Accurate reading |
There is a digital Brix meter that doesn't require any look-throughs. It works similar to the other one. You juice out the meat of the dragon fruit variety to measure (no seeds, no pulp). And you put some of that liquid into the measuring container.
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After a couple of seconds, the number will show up automatically on the screen. See it done here:
>> Link video:
Physical Graffiti Dragon Fruit Taste Review| Best digital refractometer |
|---|
 |
| Excellent sugar check |
| Portable |
| Clear digital display |
Sweeeet!
It's really easy to measure the sweetness of a dragon fruit. After cutting open their dragon fruits, wild-guessing and measuring the Brix is a fun 'ritual' many dragon fruit lovers enjoy. Get yourself one if you like but don't get too obsessed with it. And enjoy.
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