Community members are invited to learn how to make dragon fruit gummy candy or homemade ginger chews and other value-added food products at two upcoming workshops with the food science team at University of Guam Cooperative Extension & Outreach.

Dragon fruit and turmeric grow well in Guam’s climate and are readily available at grocery stores and produce stands.

They also grow so abundantly that growers sometimes find themselves with an excess, said UOG extension food scientist Dr. Jian Yang.

So he and his team have explored some recipes and procedures for turning them into shelf-stable food products and products that are fun to make and share.

A turmeric and ginger processing workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 14, at the UOG Agriculture & Life Sciences Building.

For a $5 registration fee, participants will learn about the health benefits of turmeric and ginger and how to process them into turmeric powder and turmeric-ginger candy and soft chews.

Then, on Saturday, Sept. 28, the team will hold a dragon fruit processing workshop, also from 9 a.m. to noon at the UOG Agriculture & Life Sciences Building.

For a $5 workshop fee, participants will learn about the health benefits of dragon fruit, post-harvest handling of the fruit, and how to make dragon fruit gummies, jam, and juice.

Capacity for both classes is limited to the first 20 registrants. The workshop fee covers materials and light refreshments.

Those interested may register online at:

https://url.uog.edu/turmeric-workshop

https://url.uog.edu/dragonfruit-workshop