Citrus × Paradisi
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The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical
citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...
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. Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth biochemistry, reacts chemically with taste receptor cells l ...
to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The flesh of the fruit is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark red. Grapefruits originated in
Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...
in the 18th century. They are 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 diff ...
that was created through an accidental cross between the
sweet orange The orange, also called sweet orange to distinguish it from the bitter orange (''Citrus × aurantium''), is the fruit of a tree in the family Rutaceae. Botanically, this is the hybrid ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', between the pomelo (''Citrus ...
(''C.'' × ''sinensis'') and the
pomelo The pomelo ( ; or pummelo, ''Citrus maxima''), also known as a shaddock, is the largest citrus fruit. It is an ancestor of several cultivated citrus species, including the bitter orange and the grapefruit. It is a natural, non-hybrid citrus fr ...
(''C. maxima''), both of which were introduced to the Caribbean from Asia in the 17th century. It has also been called the '
forbidden fruit In Abrahamic religions, forbidden fruit is a name given to the fruit growing in the Garden of Eden that God commands mankind Taboo#In religion and mythology, not to eat. In the biblical story, Adam and Eve eat the fruit from the tree of the know ...
'. In the past it was called the ''pomelo'', but that term is now mostly used as the common name for ''Citrus maxima''.
Grapefruit–drug interactions Some fruit juices and fruits can interact with numerous drugs, in many cases causing adverse effects. The effect is most studied with grapefruit and grapefruit juice, but similar effects have been observed with certain other citrus fruits. ...
are common, as the juice contains
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 that interfere with the metabolism of many drugs. This can prolong and intensify the effects of those drugs, leading to multiple side-effects such as abnormal heart rhythms, bleeding inside the stomach, low blood pressure, difficulty breathing, and dizziness.


Description

The evergreen grapefruit trees usually grow to around tall, although they may reach . The leaves are up to long, thin, glossy, and dark green. They produce white flowers with four or five petals. The fruit is yellow-orange skinned and generally an
oblate spheroid A spheroid, also known as an ellipsoid of revolution or rotational ellipsoid, is a quadric surface obtained by rotating an ellipse about one of its principal axes; in other words, an ellipsoid with two equal semi-diameters. A spheroid has circu ...
in shape; it ranges in diameter from . Its flesh is segmented and acidic, varying in color depending on the
cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
s, which include white, pink, and red pulps of varying sweetness (generally, the redder varieties are the sweetest).


Varieties

White grapefruit varieties include Camulos, Cecily, Duncan, Frost Marsh, Genetic Dwarf Marsh, Hall, Jochimsen, Marsh seedy, Nicholson navel, Perlis, Reed Marsh, Tetraploid, Warren Marsh, and Whitney Marsh. Red or pink grapefruit varieties include Flame, Foster Pink, Henderson Ruby, Hudson Foster, Marsh Pink, Ray Ruby, Redblush, Rio Red, Shambar, and Star Ruby. 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. The
Texas Legislature The Texas State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. 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 p ...
designated this 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 1984 registered 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 The neutron detection temperature, also called the neutron energy, indicates a free neutron's kinetic energy, usually given in electron volts. The term ''temperature'' is used, since hot, thermal and cold neutrons are moderated in a medium with ...
. 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.


As food


Nutrition

Raw white grapefruit is 90% water, 8% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and contains negligible fat (table). In a reference amount of , raw grapefruit provides of
food energy Food energy is chemical energy that animals and humans derive from food to sustain their metabolism and muscular activity. Most animals derive most of their energy from aerobic respiration, namely combining the carbohydrates, fats, and protein ...
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, berries and vegetables. It is also a generic prescription medication and in some countries is sold as a non-prescription di ...
(37% of the
Daily Value In the U.S. and Canada, the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) is used in nutrition labeling on food and dietary supplement products to indicate the daily intake level of a nutrient that is considered to be sufficient to meet the requirements of 97â ...
), with no other
micronutrient Micronutrients are essential chemicals required by organisms in small quantities to perform various biogeochemical processes and regulate physiological functions of cells and organs. By enabling these processes, micronutrients support the heal ...
s in significant amounts (table).


Culinary

Like other citrus fruits, grapefruits are sour because of their
citric acid Citric acid is an organic compound with the formula . It is a Transparency and translucency, colorless Weak acid, weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in Citrus, citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, ...
content; grapefruit juice contains about half the citric acid content of lemon juice, and nearly 50% more than orange juice. 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, officially the Hellenic Repu ...
, grapefruit are often cooked with sugar to balance their sourness, rendering them as
sweets Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies, is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum, and sugar can ...
; or they are stuffed with ''
dulce de leche ''Dulce de leche'' (), caramelized milk, milk candy, or milk jam is a confection commonly consumed after slowly heating sugar and milk over several hours. The substance takes on a spreadable, sauce-like consistency and derives its rich flavour ...
'' as a
dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...
. In Haiti, grapefruit is used primarily for its juice (''jus de Chadèque''), but also is used to make jam (''confiture de Chadèque''). 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 func ...
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 combinations. Biochemical modifications s ...
s providing aromas.
Grapefruit mercaptan Grapefruit mercaptan is 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 thiol in grapefruit m ...
, a
sulfur Sulfur ( American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur ( Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms ...
-containing
terpene Terpenes () are a class of natural products consisting of compounds with the formula (C5H8)n for n ≥ 2. Terpenes are major biosynthetic building blocks. Comprising more than 30,000 compounds, these unsaturated hydrocarbons are produced predomi ...
, is one of the
aroma compound An aroma compound, also known as an odorant, aroma, fragrance, flavoring or flavor, 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 sufficien ...
s influencing the taste and odor of grapefruit, compared with other citrus fruits. File:Caramelized Grapefruit at Palace Diner in Biddeford ME.jpg , Caramelized grapefruit File:Roasted Grapefruit Chicken.jpg, Roasted grapefruit chicken File:Laksetatar med spinat og rød grape (4357301784).jpg, Salmon tartar with spinach and red grapefruit File:Greyhound Cocktail.jpg, Greyhound cocktail, with gin and juice


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 G ...
interact with many drugs, resulting in numerous
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 compli ...
s including
bone marrow suppression Bone marrow suppression also known as myelotoxicity or myelosuppression, is the decrease in production of cells responsible for providing immunity (leukocytes), carrying oxygen (erythrocytes), and/or those responsible for normal blood clotting ( ...
,
nephrotoxicity Nephrotoxicity is toxicity in the kidneys. It is a poisonous effect of some substances, both toxic chemicals and medications, on kidney function. There are various forms, and some drugs may affect kidney function in more than one way. Nephrotoxin ...
, abnormal heart rhythm,
rhabdomyolysis Rhabdomyolysis (shortened as rhabdo) is a condition in which damaged skeletal muscle breaks down rapidly. Symptoms may include muscle pains, weakness, vomiting, and confusion. There may be tea-colored urine or an irregular heartbeat. Some o ...
,
hypotension Hypotension, also known as low blood pressure, is a cardiovascular condition characterized by abnormally reduced blood pressure. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps out blood and is ...
,
gastrointestinal bleeding Gastrointestinal bleeding (GI bleed), also called gastrointestinal hemorrhage (GIB), is all forms of bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract, from the mouth to the rectum. When there is significant blood loss over a short time, symptoms may includ ...
,
dizziness Dizziness is an imprecise term that can refer to a sense of disorientation in space, vertigo, or lightheadedness. It can also refer to Balance disorder, disequilibrium or a non-specific feeling, such as giddiness or foolishness. Dizziness is a ...
, and
respiratory depression Hypoventilation (also known as respiratory depression) occurs when ventilation is inadequate (''hypo'' meaning "below") to perform needed respiratory gas exchange. By definition it causes an increased concentration of carbon dioxide (hypercapni ...
, according to the drug involved. One interaction occurs from grapefruit
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 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, which in humans is encoded by ''CYP3A4'' gene. It organic redox reaction, oxidizes small foreign organic molecules ( ...
enzyme An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...
(among others from the
cytochrome P450 Cytochromes P450 (P450s or CYPs) are a Protein superfamily, superfamily of enzymes containing heme as a cofactor (biochemistry), cofactor that mostly, but not exclusively, function as monooxygenases. However, they are not omnipresent; for examp ...
enzyme family responsible for metabolizing 90% of drugs). The action of the CYP3A4 enzyme itself is to metabolize many medications. If a drug's breakdown for removal is lessened, then the level of that drug in the blood may become and remain high, leading to adverse effects. On the other hand, some drugs must be metabolized to become active, and inhibiting CYP3A4 may lead to reduced drug effects. Another effect is that grapefruit compounds may inhibit the absorption of drugs in the intestine. If a 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 is enough to cause drug overdose toxicity. Typically, drugs that are incompatible with grapefruit are marked as such 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 ...
.


Production

In 2023, world production of grapefruits (combined with
pomelo The pomelo ( ; or pummelo, ''Citrus maxima''), also known as a shaddock, is the largest citrus fruit. It is an ancestor of several cultivated citrus species, including the bitter orange and the grapefruit. It is a natural, non-hybrid citrus fr ...
s) was 9.93 million
tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000  kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...
s, led by China with 52% of the total and
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
as a secondary producer (table).


Pests and diseases

Grapefruits are hosts for fruit flies (family
Tephritidae The Tephritidae are one of two fly families referred to as fruit flies, the other family being the Drosophilidae. The family Tephritidae does not include the biological model organisms of the genus '' Drosophila'' (in the family Drosophilidae ...
) such as '' A. suspensa'', which lay their eggs in overripe or spoiled grapefruits, sometimes causing serious damage in plantations in the Americas. In sub-Saharan Africa, the Citrus swallowtail, ''
Papilio demodocus ''Papilio demodocus'', the citrus swallowtail or Christmas butterfly, is a swallowtail butterfly which commonly occurs over the entirety of sub-Saharan Africa, including Madagascar, besides the southern Arabian Peninsula. The caterpillars feed ...
'', is a minor pest of ''Citrus'' plantations. Grapefruits are subject to several diseases of ''Citrus'' trees, including
citrus tristeza virus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is native to S ...
,
citrus canker Citrus canker is a disease affecting ''Citrus'' species caused by the bacterium '' Xanthomonas citri''. Infection causes lesions on the leaves, stems, and fruit of citrus trees, including lime, oranges, and grapefruit. While not harmful to huma ...
(caused by a bacterium, ''
Xanthomonas ''Xanthomonas'' (from greek: ''xanthos'' – "yellow"; ''monas'' – "entity") is a genus of bacteria, many of which cause plant pathology, plant diseases. There are at least 27 plant associated ''Xanthomonas spp.'', that all together infect at l ...
''), and the
vector Vector most often refers to: * Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction * Disease vector, an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematics a ...
-transmitted
citrus greening disease Citrus greening disease ( abbr. HLB) is a disease of citrus caused by a vector-transmitted pathogen. The causative agents are motile bacteria, '' Liberibacter'' spp. The disease is transmitted by the Asian citrus psyllid, '' Diaphorina citri'', ...
, where the vector is a
psyllid Psyllidae, the jumping plant lice or psyllids, are a family of small plant-feeding insects that tend to be very host-specific, i.e. each plant-louse species only feeds on one plant species (monophagous) or feeds on a few closely related plants ( ...
bug, and the pathogen is a bacterium, '' Liberibacter''. File:Caribbean fruit fly Anastrepha suspensa.jpg, The fruit fly '' Anastrepha suspensa'', a serious pest in the New World File:Citrus swallowtail caterpillar.jpg, Citrus swallowtail, ''
Papilio demodocus ''Papilio demodocus'', the citrus swallowtail or Christmas butterfly, is a swallowtail butterfly which commonly occurs over the entirety of sub-Saharan Africa, including Madagascar, besides the southern Arabian Peninsula. The caterpillars feed ...
'' caterpillar, Africa


History

Grapefruit originated as a natural hybrid. One ancestor of the grapefruit was the Jamaican sweet orange (''
Citrus sinensis ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Mandarin orange, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, ...
''), itself an ancient hybrid of Asian origin; the other was the Indonesian
pomelo The pomelo ( ; or pummelo, ''Citrus maxima''), also known as a shaddock, is the largest citrus fruit. It is an ancestor of several cultivated citrus species, including the bitter orange and the grapefruit. It is a natural, non-hybrid citrus fr ...
(''C. maxima''). The pomelo was the female ancestor; the sweet orange, itself a hybrid, was the male. and Supplement Both ''C. sinensis'' and ''C. maxima'' were present in the West Indies by 1692. One story of the fruit's origin is that a 17th-century trader named '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
in ''Art Culinaire'' (Winter, 2007)
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, the Rev. Griffith Hughes, in his ''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, the British naturalist and plantation owner John Lunan 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 Basin, Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern ...
''). An alternative explanation is that this name may allude to clusters of the fruit on the tree, which often appear similar to bunches of grapes. In 1830, the Jamaican version of the plant was given the botanical name ''Citrus paradisi'' by the Scottish physician and botanist James Macfadyen. Macfadyen identified two varieties – one called ''forbidden fruit'', the other ''Barbadoes Grape Fruit''. Macfadyen distinguished between the two plants by fruit shape with the Barbados grapefruit being piriform (
pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...
shaped) while the forbidden fruit was "maliformis". Macfadyen's and Hughes's descriptions differ, so it is not clear that the two reports are describing the same plant. It has been suggested that Hughes's golden orange may actually have been a grapefruit, while his forbidden fruit was a different variety that may since have been lost. A citrus called ''forbidden fruit'' or ''shaddette'' has been discovered in
Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...
; it may be the plant described by Hughes and Macfadyen. The name ''grape-fruit'' was used during the 19th century to refer to pomelos. It was brought to Florida by the French businessman Count
Odet Philippe Odet Philippe was the first permanent, non-native settler on the Pinellas County, 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 ci ...
in 1823, in what is now known as Safety Harbor. 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 pome ...
(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 p ...
(1931), and the
oroblanco The oroblanco, oro blanco, or sweetie (''Pomelo, Citrus grandis'' Osbeck × ''Grapefruit, C. paradisi'' Macf.) is a citrus Hybrid (biology), hybrid, resulting from a cross between an acidless pomelo and a Grapefruit, Marsh grapefruit. Its fruit ...
(1984). Its true origins were not determined until the 1940s, at which point its official name was altered to ''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'', the × identifying it as a hybrid.University of Florida: IFAS Extension; The Grapefruit. An early pioneer in the American citrus industry was Kimball C. 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 discovered in 1906.


See also

* * *


References


External links

* * * {{Authority control
Grapefruit The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The flesh of the fruit is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark red. Grapefru ...
Citrus hybrids Citrus CYP3A4 inhibitors Flora of Barbados Flora of Jamaica Tropical agriculture Fruit trees