The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical
citrus
''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...
tree known for its relatively large,
sour
The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste (flavor). Taste is the perception produced or stimulated when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor ...
to semi-sweet, somewhat
bitter
Bitter may refer to:
Common uses
* Resentment, negative emotion or attitude, similar to being jaded, cynical or otherwise negatively affected by experience
* Bitter (taste), one of the five basic tastes
Books
* '' Bitter (novel)'', a 2022 nove ...
fruit.
The interior flesh is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark pink.
Grapefruit is a citrus
hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
originating in
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
. It is an accidental cross between the
sweet orange
An orange is a fruit of various citrus species in the family Rutaceae (see list of plants known as orange); it primarily refers to ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', which is also called sweet orange, to distinguish it from the related ''Citrus × ...
(''C. sinensis'') and the
pomelo
The pomelo ( ), ''Citrus maxima'', is the largest citrus fruit from the family Rutaceae and the principal ancestor of the grapefruit. It is a natural, non-hybrid, citrus fruit, native to Southeast Asia. Similar in taste to a sweet grapefr ...
or shaddock (''C. maxima''), both of which were introduced from Asia in the 17th century.
It has also been called the ''
forbidden fruit
Forbidden fruit is a name given to the fruit growing in the Garden of Eden which God commands mankind not to eat. In the biblical story, Adam and Eve eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and are exiled from Eden.
As a ...
''.
[ In the past it was referred to as the ''pomelo'', but that term is now mostly used as the common name for ''Citrus maxima''.
In 2019, world production of grapefruits (combined with pomelos) was 9.3 million tonnes, of which 53% was in China. Other significant producers include Vietnam, United States and Mexico.
]
Description
The evergreen grapefruit trees usually grow to around tall, although they may reach .[ The leaves are long (up to ), thin, glossy, and dark green. They produce white four-petaled flowers. The fruit is yellow-orange skinned and generally an oblate spheroid in shape; it ranges in diameter from . Its flesh is segmented and acidic, varying in color depending on the ]cultivar
A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...
s, which include white, pink, and red pulps of varying sweetness (generally, the redder varieties are the sweetest).[ The 1929 U.S. 'Ruby Red'][ (of the 'Redblush' variety) was the first grapefruit ]patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
.[Texas grapefruit history](_blank)
, TexaSweet. Retrieved 2 July 2008.
History
Grapefruit originated as a natural hybrid. One ancestor of the grapefruit was the Jamaican sweet orange (''Citrus sinensis''), itself an ancient hybrid of Asian origin; the other was the Indonesian pomelo (''C. maxima'').[ Both ''C. sinensis'' and ''C. maxima'' were present in the West Indies by 1692. One story of the fruit's origin is that a certain "Captain Shaddock"][ brought pomelo seeds to Jamaica and bred the first fruit, which were then called ''shaddocks''.][Grapefruit: a fruit with a bit of a complex](_blank)
in ''Art Culinaire'' (Winter, 2007) This apparently referred to a captain who traded in the West Indies in the 17th century. The grapefruit then probably originated as a naturally occurring hybrid between the two plants some time after they had been introduced there.
A hybrid fruit, called ''forbidden fruit'', was first documented in 1750 (along with 14 other citrus fruits including the guiney orange) by a Welshman, Rev. Griffith Hughes, who described specimens from Barbados in ''The Natural History of Barbados''.[ However, Hughes's forbidden fruit may have been a plant distinct from grapefruit although still closely related to it.]
In 1814, naturalist John Lunan
John Lunan (died 1838) was a planter and magistrate in Jamaica. He was elected to the House of Assembly of Jamaica
The House of Assembly was the legislature of the British colony of Jamaica. It held its first meeting on 20 January 1664 at Span ...
published the term ''grapefruit'' to describe a similar Jamaican citrus plant.[ Lunan reported that the name was due to its similarity in taste to the grape ('']Vitis vinifera
''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran. There are curre ...
''). An alternative explanation offered by Tussac (1824) is that this name may allude to clusters of the fruit on the tree, which often appear similar to bunches of grapes. After this, authors of the period used both terms ''forbidden fruit'' and ''grapefruit'' as synonyms.
In 1830, the Jamaican version of the plant was given the botanical name ''Citrus paradisi'' by botanist James Macfadyen. Macfadyen identified two varieties – one called ''forbidden fruit'', the other called ''Barbadoes Grape Fruit''. Macfadyen distinguished between the two plants by fruit shape with the Barbadoes Grape Fruit being piriform while the forbidden fruit was "maliformis." Macfadyen's and Hughes's description differ, so it is not clear that the two reports are describing the same plant. Kumamoto et al. (1987) suggest that Hughes's golden orange was actually a grapefruit while his forbidden fruit was a different plant that had since became extinct and frequently confused with grapefruits. Later, Kim (1990) found a different citrus called ''forbidden fruit'' or ''shaddette'' in Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...
that is closely related to grapefruits and may be the plant described by Hughes and Macfadyen.
The name ''grape-fruit'' was used more and more during the 19th century to refer to pomelos, to the consternation of some.
The grapefruit was brought to Florida by Count Odet Philippe
Odet Philippe was the first permanent, non-native settler on the Pinellas peninsula in what is now the state of Florida, acquiring of land in what is today Safety Harbor in 1842. He was a successful businessman who introduced cigar making and ci ...
in 1823, in what is now known as Safety Harbor
Safety Harbor is a city on the west shore of Tampa Bay in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It was settled in 1823 and incorporated in 1917. The population was 16,884 at the 2010 census.
History
The area has been inhabited since the Stone ...
.[ Further crosses have produced the ]tangelo
The tangelo ( , ; ''C. reticulata × C. maxima'' or ''× C. paradisi''), ''Citrus × tangelo, is'' a citrus fruit hybrid of a ''Citrus reticulata'' variety, such as mandarin orange or tangerine, and a ''Citrus maxima'' variety, such as a pomel ...
(1905), the Minneola tangelo
The tangelo ( , ; ''C. reticulata × C. maxima'' or ''× C. paradisi''), ''Citrus × tangelo, is'' a citrus fruit hybrid of a ''Citrus reticulata'' variety, such as mandarin orange or tangerine, and a ''Citrus maxima'' variety, such as a pomel ...
(1931), and the oroblanco
An oroblanco, oro blanco (white gold), Pomelit (Israel) or sweetie (''Citrus grandis'' Osbeck × '' C. Paradisi'' Macf.) is a sweet seedless citrus hybrid fruit similar to grapefruit. It is often referred to as oroblanco grapefruit.
Developmen ...
(1984).
Its true origins were not determined until the 1940s. This led to the official name being altered to ''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'', the × identifying its hybrid origin.[Texas Citrus: Puzzling Beginnings]
Article
[University of Florida: IFAS Extension; The Grapefruit. ]
An early pioneer in the American citrus industry was Kimball Atwood, a wealthy entrepreneur who founded the Atwood Grapefruit Company in the late 19th century. The Atwood Grove became the largest grapefruit grove in the world, with a yearly output of 80,000 boxes of fruit. There, pink grapefruit was first discovered in 1906.
Varieties
The varieties of Texas and Florida grapefruit include: 'Duncan', 'Flame', 'Henderson', 'Hudson', 'Marsh', 'Oro Blanco', 'Pink', 'Pummelo HB', 'Ray', 'Rio Star', 'Ruby Red', 'Star Ruby', 'Thompson', 'Triumph', 'Walters', 'White Marsh'.
The 1929 'Ruby Red' (or 'Redblush') patent was associated with real commercial success, which came after the discovery of a red grapefruit growing on a pink variety.[ It was a limb sport of a 'Thompson' grapefruit selected by A.E. Henninger. The 'Thompson' was a limb sport from a 'Marsh' grapefruit selected in 1913. The ]Texas Legislature
The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...
designated this grapefruit variety the official "State Fruit of Texas" in 1993.
Using radiation to trigger mutations, new varieties were developed to retain the red tones that typically faded to pink. The 'Rio Red' variety is a 2007 Texas grapefruit with registered trademarks ''Rio Star'' and ''Ruby-Sweet'', also sometimes promoted as ''Reddest'' and ''Texas Choice''. The 'Rio Red' is a mutation-bred variety that was developed by treatment of bud sticks with thermal neutrons. Its improved attributes of mutant variety are fruit and juice color, deeper red, and wide adaptation.
The 'Star Ruby' is the darkest of the red varieties.[ Developed from an irradiated 'Hudson' grapefruit ('Hudson' being a limb sport of 'Foster', itself a limb sport of the 'Walters'), it has found limited commercial success because it is more difficult to grow than other varieties.
]
Production
In 2019, world production of grapefruits (combined with pomelos) was 9.3 million tonnes, led by China with 53% of the world total. Secondary producers were Vietnam, the United States, and Mexico.[
]
Parasites
Grapefruits are one of the most common hosts for fruit flies such as '' A. suspensa'', which lay their eggs in overripe or spoiled grapefruits. The larvae of these flies then consume the fruit to gain nutrients until they can proceed into the pupae stage. This parasitism has led to millions in economic costs for nations in Central America and southern North America.
Colors and flavors
Grapefruit varieties are differentiated by the flesh color of fruit they produce. Common varieties are yellow and pink pulp colors. Flavors range from highly acidic and somewhat sour to sweet and tart, resulting from composition of sugars (mainly sucrose
Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula .
For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...
), organic acids (mainly citric acid), and monoterpene
Monoterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of two isoprene units and have the molecular formula C10H16. Monoterpenes may be linear (acyclic) or contain rings (monocyclic and bicyclic). Modified terpenes, such as those containing oxygen funct ...
s and sesquiterpene
Sesquiterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of three isoprene units and often have the molecular formula C15H24. Like monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes may be cyclic or contain rings, including many unique combinations. Biochemical modificat ...
s providing aromas.
Grapefruit mercaptan
Grapefruit mercaptan is the common name for a natural organic compound found in grapefruit. It is a monoterpenoid that contains a thiol (also known as a mercaptan) functional group. Structurally a hydroxy group of terpineol is replaced by the th ...
, a sulfur
Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
-containing terpene
Terpenes () are a class of natural products consisting of compounds with the formula (C5H8)n for n > 1. Comprising more than 30,000 compounds, these unsaturated hydrocarbons are produced predominantly by plants, particularly conifers. Terpenes ar ...
, is one of the aroma compound
An aroma compound, also known as an odorant, aroma, fragrance or flavoring, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor. For an individual chemical or class of chemical compounds to impart a smell or fragrance, it must be sufficiently vo ...
s influencing taste and odor of grapefruit, compared with other citrus fruits.
Drug interactions
Grapefruit and grapefruit juice
Grapefruit juice is the juice from grapefruits. It is rich in vitamin C and ranges from sweet-tart to very sour. Variations include white grapefruit, pink grapefruit and ruby red grapefruit juice.The World's Healthiest Foods; Grapefruit. ''The ...
have been found to interact
Advocates for Informed Choice, dba interACT or interACT Advocates for Intersex Youth, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization using innovative strategies to advocate for the legal and human rights of children with intersex traits. The organizati ...
with numerous drugs and in many cases, to result in adverse direct and/or side effects (if dosage is not carefully adjusted).
This happens in two very different ways. In the first, the effect is from natural furanocoumarin
The furanocoumarins, or furocoumarins, are a class of organic chemical compounds produced by a variety of plants. Most of the plant species found to contain furanocoumarins belong to a handful of plant families. The families Apiaceae and Rutacea ...
s such as bergamottin
Bergamottin (5-geranoxypsoralen) is a natural furanocoumarin found in the pulp of pomelos and grapefruits. It is also found in the peel and pulp of the bergamot orange, from which it was first isolated and from which its name is derived.
Chemis ...
and 6',7'-dihydroxybergamottin, which occur in both grapefruit flesh and peel. Furanocoumarins inhibit the CYP3A4
Cytochrome P450 3A4 (abbreviated CYP3A4) () is an important enzyme in the body, mainly found in the liver and in the intestine. It oxidizes small foreign organic molecules (xenobiotics), such as toxins or drugs, so that they can be removed from t ...
enzyme
Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...
, including the P450
Cytochromes P450 (CYPs) are a superfamily of enzymes containing heme as a cofactor that functions as monooxygenases. In mammals, these proteins oxidize steroids, fatty acids, and xenobiotics, and are important for the clearance of various compo ...
enzyme family responsible for metabolizing 90% of drugs. The action of the CYP3A4 enzyme itself is to metabolize many medications. If the drug's breakdown for removal is lessened, then the level of the drug in the blood may become too high or stay too long, leading to adverse effect
An adverse effect is an undesired harmful effect resulting from a medication or other intervention, such as surgery. An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect. The term complica ...
s. On the other hand, some drugs must be broken down to become active, and inhibiting CYP3A4 may lead to reduced drug effects.
The other effect is that grapefruit can block the absorption of drugs in the intestine. If the drug is not absorbed, then not enough of it is in the blood to have a therapeutic effect. Each affected drug has either a specific increase of effect or decrease.
One whole grapefruit, or a glass of of grapefruit juice may cause drug overdose toxicity. Typically, drugs that are incompatible with grapefruit are so labeled on the container or package insert
A package insert is a document included in the package of a medication that provides information about that drug and its use. For prescription medications, the insert is technical, providing information for medical professionals about how to pr ...
. People taking drugs should ask their health-care provider or pharmacist questions about grapefruit and drug interactions.
Nutrition
Raw grapefruit is 90% water, 8% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and negligible fat (table). In a 100 gram reference amount, raw grapefruit provides 33 kilocalorie
The calorie is a unit of energy. For historical reasons, two main definitions of "calorie" are in wide use. The large calorie, food calorie, or kilogram calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of on ...
s and is a rich source of vitamin C
Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) an ...
(40% of the Daily Value
The Reference Daily Intake (RDI) used in nutrition labeling on food and dietary supplement products in the U.S. and Canada is the daily intake level of a nutrient that is considered to be sufficient to meet the requirements of 97–98% of health ...
), with no other micronutrient
Micronutrients are nutrient, essential dietary elements required by organisms in varying quantities throughout life to orchestrate a range of physiological functions to maintain health. Micronutrient requirements differ between organisms; for exam ...
s in significant content.
Grapefruit juice contains about half the citric acid
Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOC(CO2H)(CH2CO2H)2. It is a colorless weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, which occurs in t ...
of lime
Lime commonly refers to:
* Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit
* Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide
* Lime (color), a color between yellow and green
Lime may also refer to:
Botany ...
or lemon
The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China.
The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...
juice, and about 50% more citric acid than orange juice.
Cuisine
In Costa Rica, especially in Atenas
Atenas () is a district of the Atenas canton, in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. Its urban area is referred as Atenas city.
Toponymy
Its name means Athens ''(Αθήνα)'', the capital of Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', offici ...
, grapefruit are often cooked to remove their sourness, rendering them as sweets
Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English, New Zealand English), is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, i ...
; they are also stuffed with ''dulce de leche
''Dulce de leche'' (; pt, doce de leite), also known as caramelized milk, milk candy or milk jam in English, is a confection from Latin America prepared by slowly heating sugar and milk over a period of several hours. The resulting substance, w ...
'', resulting in a dessert
Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and ...
called ''toronja rellena'' (stuffed grapefruit). In Haiti, grapefruit is used primarily for its juice (''jus de Chadèque''), but also is used to make jam (''confiture de Chadèque'').
Related citruses
Grapefruit is a pomelo backcross
Backcrossing is a crossing of a hybrid with one of its parents or an individual genetically similar to its parent, to achieve offspring with a genetic identity closer to that of the parent. It is used in horticulture, animal breeding, and product ...
, a hybrid of pomelo and sweet orange, which is in turn a pomelo × mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
hybrid.
The grapefruit is a parent to many hybrids:
* A tangelo
The tangelo ( , ; ''C. reticulata × C. maxima'' or ''× C. paradisi''), ''Citrus × tangelo, is'' a citrus fruit hybrid of a ''Citrus reticulata'' variety, such as mandarin orange or tangerine, and a ''Citrus maxima'' variety, such as a pomel ...
is any hybrid of a tangerine
The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in color. Its scientific name varies. It has been treated as a separate species under the name ''Citrus tangerina'' or ''Citrus'' × ''tangerina'', or treated as a variety of ''Citrus retic ...
and either a pomelo or a grapefruit
** ' Minneola': 'Duncan' grapefruit × 'Dancy' tangerine
** ''Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
'' (formerly ''Take''): Bowen grapefruit × 'Dancy' tangerine (pollen parent)
*** 'Fairchild Fairchild may refer to:
Organizations
* Fairchild Aerial Surveys, operated in cooperation with a subsidiary of Fairey Aviation Company
* Fairchild Camera and Instrument
* List of Sherman Fairchild companies, "Fairchild" companies
* Fairchild Fa ...
' is a clementine
A clementine (''Citrus × clementina'') is a tangor, a citrus fruit hybrid between a willowleaf mandarin orange ( ''C.'' × ''deliciosa'') and a sweet orange (''C. × sinensis''), named in honor of Clément Rodier, a French missionary who fir ...
× 'Orlando' hybrid
** 'Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...
': 'Bowen' grapefruit × 'Dancy' tangerine
** ' Thornton': tangerine × grapefruit, unspecified
** 'Ugli
The Jamaican tangelo, also known by proprietary names ugli fruit, uglifruit, and uniq fruit, is a citrus fruit that arose on the island of Jamaica through the natural hybridization of a tangerine or orange with a grapefruit (or pomelo), and is t ...
': mandarin × grapefruit, probable (wild seedling)
** 'Nova' is a second-generation hybrid: clementine × 'Orlando' tangelo cross
* The 'Oroblanco
An oroblanco, oro blanco (white gold), Pomelit (Israel) or sweetie (''Citrus grandis'' Osbeck × '' C. Paradisi'' Macf.) is a sweet seedless citrus hybrid fruit similar to grapefruit. It is often referred to as oroblanco grapefruit.
Developmen ...
' and 'Melogold
The Melogold or Melogold grapefruit (''Citrus grandis'' Osbeck × '' C. Paradisi'' Macf.) is a citrus hybrid similar to the oroblanco; both result from a cross between the pomelo and the grapefruit and is a fruit similar to a sweet grapefruit.
M ...
' grapefruits are hybrids between pomelo (''C. maxima'') and the grapefruit
* The 'Triumph' grapefruit is thought to be a hybrid between a grapefruit and one of either an orange, a mandarin orange, or a pomelo
Related citrus fruits include:
* Common sweet orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
: pomelo × mandarin hybrid
* Bitter orange
Bitter orange, Seville orange, bigarade orange, or marmalade orange is the citrus tree ''Citrus'' × ''aurantium'' and its fruit. It is native to Southeast Asia and has been spread by humans to many parts of the world. It is probably a cross be ...
: a different pomelo × mandarin hybrid
* Mandelos: pomelo × mandarin
* Hyuganatsu
Hyuganatsu (''Citrus tamurana'', Japanese: 日向夏) is a citrus fruit and plant grown in Japan. The name comes from Hyūga, the ancient name of Miyazaki Prefecture in Kyushu, where the citrus is said to have originated, while means summer. ...
may also be a pomelo hybrid
* Forbidden fruit
Forbidden fruit is a name given to the fruit growing in the Garden of Eden which God commands mankind not to eat. In the biblical story, Adam and Eve eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and are exiled from Eden.
As a ...
: pomelo × orange hybrid found in Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...
closely related to and historically confused with grapefruits
See also
*
*
*
*
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q41350
Citrus hybrids
Citrus
CYP3A4 inhibitors
Flora of Barbados
Flora of Jamaica
Tropical agriculture
Fruit trees