An oroblanco, oro blanco (white gold), Pomelit (Israel) or sweetie (''

Citrus grandis 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 grapef ...

'' Osbeck × '' C. Paradisi'' Macf.) is a sweet

seedless A seedless fruit is a fruit developed to possess no mature seeds. Since eating seedless fruits is generally easier and more convenient, they are considered commercially valuable. Most commercially produced seedless fruits have been developed from ...

citrus hybrid Citrus taxonomy refers to the botanical classification of the species, varieties, cultivars, and graft hybrids within the genus ''Citrus'' and related genera, found in cultivation and in the wild. Citrus taxonomy is complex and controversial. ...

fruit similar to grapefruit. It is often referred to as oroblanco grapefruit.

Development

Oroblanco was developed as a cross between a diploid acidless

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 ...

and a seedy white

tetraploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contains ...

grapefruit, resulting in a

triploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contains ...

seedless fruit A seedless fruit is a fruit developed to possess no mature seeds. Since eating seedless fruits is generally easier and more convenient, they are considered commercially valuable. Most commercially produced seedless fruits have been developed from ...

that is less acidic and less bitter than the grapefruit. The oroblanco was patented by the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

in 1981 after its development by

Robert Soost Robert K. Soost (November 13, 1920, Sacramento – March 8, 2009) was a citrus expert and professor of genetics at University of California, Riverside, and sixth curator of the University of California Citrus Variety Collection. He studied at U ...

and James W. Cameron at that university's

citrus experiment station The University of California Citrus Experiment Station is the founding unit of the University of California, Riverside campus in Riverside, California, United States. The station contributed greatly to the cultivation of the orange and the overall ...

in Riverside,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The nine-year project began in 1958 and led to a series of test plantings before a successful variation was refined.

Description

Citrus paradisi 'Oroblanco' - Grapefruit

Oroblancos are either round- or oval-shaped with a thicker rind than grapefruit. When eaten, an oroblanco lacks bitterness associated with grapefruits and is rather sweet, even when the outer peel is still green, but the white membranes separating the fleshy segments are bitter and usually discarded. Oroblancos are available from September through December. They may be peeled and eaten like an

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 * ...

— by separating into segments — and are often eaten at breakfast. A similar fruit has been commonly cultivated in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

since 1984, from where the name "Sweetie" originated. It is also referred to as a "pomelit."

Gallery

File:Oroblanco.jpg, An Oroblanco File:Longwood 2011 09 02 0358 (6160276207).jpg, An extreme flattened specimen of Oroblanco

References

External links

Southern California has three fine locally adapted hybrids at their peak now: Oroblanco, Melogold and Cocktail.

David Karp David Karp (born July 6, 1986) is an American webmaster, entrepreneur, and blogger, best known as the founder and former CEO of the short-form blogging platform Tumblr. Karp began his career, without having received a high school diploma, as ...

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

UC, Davis

Growing tips

Performance of `Oroblanco' and `Melogold' Pummelo × Grapefruit Hybrids on Nine Rootstocks on a Calcareous, Poorly Drained Soil

Recipes

Incredible Smoothies
{{citrus Citrus hybrids Grapefruit