Hylocereus Undatus (Dragon Fruit) Seed Oil
Hylocereus Undatus · INCI Hylocereus Undatus Seed Oil
Dragon fruit, or pitaya, is the striking fruit of a climbing cactus, Hylocereus undatus. Everyone knows the flesh. What we use is the oil pressed from the small black seeds inside it, and that is a quite different, and rather more useful, thing.
The fruit is the famous part. The seed is the useful one, and it presses to an oil that is roughly half linoleic acid.
What it is
It matters which part of the plant a skincare ingredient comes from, and dragon fruit is the clearest example in our range. The flesh holds the betalains and vitamin C the fruit is celebrated for. The seeds hold oil, and that oil is roughly half linoleic acid, the essential omega-6 the skin draws on to build the lipids of its barrier. Oleic and palmitic acids make up most of the rest, and a useful level of natural tocopherols comes along too.
That is a strong profile for a moisturiser, and it puts dragon fruit seed oil in the same company as grape seed: light, quick to absorb, and rich in the essential fatty acid the skin cannot make for itself. It is the reason the oil appears in four of our five blends.
What it does in our formulas
Its fatty acids and its tocopherols explain what it does.
It supports the barrier
Dragon fruit seed oil is roughly half linoleic acid, the essential omega-6 the skin uses to build its barrier lipids, with oleic and palmitic acids behind it. That is an unusually high proportion, in the same league as grape seed, and it is why the oil is in the blend.
Well characterisedIt is light, and it carries its own antioxidants
The oil absorbs quickly and sits lightly, which is why it suits oilier skin as readily as dry. It also carries a useful level of natural tocopherols, vitamin E, which lend it an antioxidant note and help keep the oil itself from turning.
Well characterisedWhat the research does not show
Dragon fruit is an appealing thing to put on a label, and the marketing tends to reach for the fruit's reputation rather than the seed's chemistry.
Marketed as Packed with the fruit's antioxidants
Marketed as Brightening, or shown to rejuvenate skin
On the label and in the range
Dragon fruit appears in the Dry Sensitive, Balanced, Oily and Oily Sensitive blends, high on the ingredient list. On the label it reads by its INCI name, Hylocereus Undatus Seed Oil, shown with its common name and marked with a caret for cold-pressed. The exact percentage is published on each product page, as it is for everything we use.
Is it suitable for me?
Dragon fruit seed oil is light, well tolerated and suits a vegan routine, with no restrictions under UK or EU cosmetic law. Its lightness and high linoleic content are why it appears in the Oily and Oily Sensitive blends as well as the Dry Sensitive and Balanced ones, and it is gentle enough for the sensitive skin types in the range.
As with anything new, if your skin reacts easily it is worth patch testing first.
The research behind this page
We review the published literature. We do not conduct the studies below.
- Ariffin AA, Bakar J, Tan CP, Rahman RA, Karim R, Loi CC. Essential fatty acids of pitaya (dragon fruit) seed oil. Food Chem 2009;114(2):561-564. →
- Lim HK, Tan CP, Karim R, Ariffin AA, Bakar J. Chemical composition and DSC thermal properties of two species of Hylocereus cacti seed oil. Food Chem 2010;119(4):1326-1331. →
- Lin TK, Zhong L, Santiago JL. Anti-Inflammatory and Skin Barrier Repair Effects of Topical Application of Some Plant Oils. Int J Mol Sci 2018;19(1):70. →