Pomelo

Pomelo
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Clade:Angiosperms
Clade:Eudicots
Clade:Rosids
Order:Sapindales
Family:Rutaceae
Genus:Citrus
Species: C. maxima
Binomial name
Citrus maxima
Pomelo, raw
Flesh of a pomelo
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 159 kJ (38 kcal)
9.62 g
Dietary fiber 1 g
0.04 g
0.76 g
Vitamins Quantity %DV†
Thiamine (B1)
3%
0.034 mg
Riboflavin (B2)
2%
0.027 mg
Niacin (B3)
1%
0.22 mg
Vitamin B6
3%
0.036 mg
Vitamin C
73%
61 mg
Minerals Quantity %DV†
Iron
1%
0.11 mg
Magnesium
2%
6 mg
Manganese
1%
0.017 mg
Phosphorus
2%
17 mg
Potassium
5%
216 mg
Sodium
0%
1 mg
Zinc
1%
0.08 mg
Link to USDA Database entry
†Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient Database

The pomelo, Citrus maxima or Citrus grandis, is the largest citrus fruit from the Rutaceae family. It is a natural (non-hybrid) citrus fruit, similar in appearance to a large grapefruit, native to South and Southeast Asia. The pomelo is one of the original citrus species from which the rest of cultivated citrus hybridized. The popular fruit is used in many Chinese festive celebrations throughout Southeast Asia.

Etymology

Flowering and fruiting branch with numbered fruit segment and flower section, Chromolithograph by P. Depannemaeker, c. 1885, after B. Hoola van Nooten

After a Captain Shaddock of an East India Company ship introduced it to Barbados, the fruit was called "shaddock" in English.[1][2] From there the name spread to Jamaica in 1696.[3] It remains a common name for the fruit among English authors.[4]

The word "pomelo" (also spelled pomello, pummelo, pommelo, pumelo) has become the more common name, although "pomelo" has historically been used for grapefruit. (The 1973 printing of the American Heritage Dictionary, for example, gives grapefruit as the only meaning of "pomelo.")

The etymology of the word "pomelo" is complex. In Tamil it is called "pampa limāsu", which means big citrus. The name was adopted by the Portuguese as "pomposos limões" and then by the Dutch as "pompelmoes". With some deviations, the name may be found in many European languages, such as German (pampelmuse), Latvian (pampelmūze), Ido (pompelmuso), whereas some other languages use "pomelo" (Turkish, Norwegian, Polish, Bulgarian).In Southeast Asia, it is commonly known as limau besar, limau betawi, or limau serdadu in Malay; jeruk bali in Bahasa Indonesia; ส้มโอ [som o:] in Thai; lukban in Tagalog; and bu’o’i in Vietnamese.

Another origin theory proposes that "pomelo" is an alteration of a compound of English names pomme ("apple") + melon.[5]

The fruit is also known as jabong in Hawaii and jambola in varieties of English spoken in South Asia.

Description and uses

Closeup of pomelo petiole

Typically, the fruit is pale green to yellow when ripe, with sweet white (or, more rarely, pink or red) flesh, and a very thick albedo (rind pith). It is a large citrus fruit, 15–25 centimetres (5.9–9.8 in) in diameter,[6] usually weighing 1–2 kilograms (2.2–4.4 lb). Leaf petioles are distinctly winged.

The fruit tastes like a sweet, mild grapefruit (believed to be a hybrid of Citrus maxima and the orange),[7] although the typical pomelo is much larger than the grapefruit, and also has a much thicker rind. The pomelo has none, or very little, of the common grapefruit's bitterness, but the enveloping membranous material around the segments is bitter, considered inedible, and thus is usually discarded.

Sometimes, the peel is used to make marmalade, may be candied, or dipped in chocolate. In Brazil, the thick skin is often used for making a sweet conserve, while the spongy pith of the rind is discarded. In Sri Lanka, it is often eaten as a dessert, either raw or sprinkled with sugar. Occasionally, some Asian fat-heavy dishes feature sliced pre-soaked pith to absorb the sauce and fat for eating.

In large parts of Southeast Asia, where Citrus maxima is native,[8] it is a popular dessert, often eaten raw and sprinkled with, or dipped in, a salt mixture. It is eaten in salads and drinks as well.

Citrus maxima is usually grafted onto other citrus rootstocks, but may be grown from seed.

The fruit is said to have been introduced to Japan by a Cantonese captain in the An'ei era (1772–1781).[9] There are two varieties: a sweet kind with white flesh and a sour kind with pinkish flesh, the latter more likely to be used as an altar decoration than eaten. Pomelos often are eaten in Asia during the mid-autumn festival or mooncake festival.

It is one of the ingredients of "Forbidden Fruit", a liqueur dating back to the early twentieth century that also contains honey and brandy. This liqueur is most famously used in the Dorchester cocktail.

Genetic diversity

A study was conducted on different pummelo accessions from Bengal, India and a wide variability was observed in the fruit physico-chemical characters. The result shows that the fruit skin colour shows variation from greenish-yellow to orange, most of the fruits are round shaped whereas some fruits are oval as well. The placental tissues shows colour variability from whitish to pink and even reddish as well. The taste of the juice are classified as sour in some occasions to sweet in many occasions and very sweet in few occasion. Accession-17 showed the maximum average weight of fruit (1223.67 g) whereas the minimum fruit weight was observed in accession-16 (556.33 g). The length and breadth of the fruit was found maximum in accession 17 (13.17 cm) and Accession-20 (12.17 cm) and minimum in accession 14 (10.2 cm) and 11 (8.4 cm) respectively. The peel-pulp ratio was maximum in accession 13 and minimum in accession 3. Juice content was found maximum in accession 4 and minimum in accession 3. TSS was observed in ACC-15 (13.6 Brix)and minimum in ACC-13 (10 brix). The total sugar was maximum in ACC-22 (4.33%)and minimum in ACC-3 (4.15%).[10]

Drug interactions

Some medicines may interact dangerously with pomelos and some pomelo hybrids, including grapefruit, some limes, and some oranges.[11]

Other uses

Pomelo leaves are used for aromatic baths. The essential oil can be extracted from the leaves, peel or seeds of some pomelo species. Oil from the seeds of an inferior pomelo species was used to light opium pipes in Indochina. Perfumes are extracted from the flowers using enfleurage. The moderately heavy and hard timber from pomelo trees can be used to make, among other things, tool handle.

Varieties

Non-hybrid pomelos

Possible non-hybrid pomelos

Hybrids

The pomelo is one of the original citrus species from which the rest of cultivated citrus hybridized, (others being citron, mandarin, and to a lesser extent, papedas and kumquat). In particular, the common orange and the grapefruit are presumed to be naturally occurring hybrids between the pomelo and the mandarin, with the pomelo providing the larger size and greater firmness.

The pomelo is employed today in artificial breeding programs:

References

  1. ↑ Pomelo (Pummelo) Citrus maxima
  2. ↑ fruitInfo-trdLevel2021.html
  3. ↑ American Heritage Dictionary, 1973.
  4. ↑ "Shaddock". Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  5. ↑ “pomelo, n.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [Draft revision; June 2008]
  6. ↑ Growing the granddaddy of grapefruit, SFGate.com, December 25, 2004
  7. ↑ "Grapefruit". Hort.purdue.edu. Retrieved 2012-05-12.
  8. ↑ "Pummelo". Hort.purdue.edu. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  9. ↑ "阿久根市： 観光・特産品（ボンタン）". City.akune.kagoshima.jp. Archived from the original on 2011-11-19. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  10. ↑ Bhowmick, Nilesh; Mani, Arghya; Paul, Prodyut Kumar; Prasanna, V.S.S.V. "PHYSIO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF PUMMELO [CITRUS GRANDIS (L.) OSBECK] GROWN UNDER NORTHERN PARTS OF WEST BENGAL". Journal of Plant Development Sciences. 9 (9): 887.
  11. ↑ Grapefruit–medication interactions: Forbidden fruit or avoidable consequences? CMAJ March 5, 2013 vol. 185 no. 4 First published November 26, 2012, doi: 10.1503/cmaj.120951 David G. Bailey, George Dresser, J. Malcolm O. Arnold,
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Morton, J. 1987. Tangelo. p. 158–160. In: Fruits of warm climates. Julia F. Morton, Miami, FL. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/tangelo.html
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