GUIYANG, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Researchers from southwest China's Guizhou Province are studying the extraction of pigment from pitaya, or dragon fruit, for use in lipstick.

China has dozens of breeds of pitaya. Researchers from Guizhou Institute of Fruit Tree Science selected a variety with purple flesh for their research.

Zhou Junliang, a researcher with the institute, said on Tuesday that the pigment contained in pitaya is hard for the human body to break down and also has an antioxidant function, making it a good raw material for lipstick pigment.

So far, researchers have found that it is easy to extract pigment from dragon fruit, but the pigment is easily affected by light, heat and pH value changes.

Researchers hope to address these issues to develop more pitaya pigment products.

Most lipsticks on the market are made of artificial pigment. Pitaya-based lipsticks would be healthier, according to Zhou.