Pomelo

The pomelo tree may be 5–15 meters (16–50 feet) tall, possibly with a crooked trunk 10–30 centimeters (4–12 inches) thick, and low-hanging, irregular branches. Their leaf petioles are distinctly winged, with alternate, ovate or elliptic shapes 5–20 cm (2–8 in) long, with a leathery, dull green upper layer, and hairy under-leaf. The flowers — single or in clusters — are fragrant and yellow-white in color.^[4]

The fruit is large, 15–25 cm (6–10 in) in diameter,^[5] usually weighing 1–2 kilograms (2–4 pounds). It has a thicker rind than a grapefruit, and is divided into 11 to 18 segments. The flesh tastes like mild grapefruit, with a little of its common bitterness (the grapefruit is a hybrid of the pomelo and the orange).^[4][6] The enveloping membranes around the segments are chewy and bitter, considered inedible, and usually discarded.^[4] There are at least sixty varieties.^[7] The fruit generally contains a few, relatively large seeds, but some varieties have numerous seeds.^[4] The physical and chemical characteristics of pomelo vary widely across South Asia.^[4]

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  Seedling
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  Flowers
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  Tree
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  Fruit
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  Fruit and blossoms at the same time

 

The pomelo is significant botanically as one of the three major wild ancestors of several cultivated hybrid Citrus species, including the bitter orange and the grapefruit; and less directly also of the lemon, the sweet orange, and some types of mandarin.^[8][9] The sweet orange is a naturally occurring hybrid between the pomelo and the mandarin, with the pomelo the larger and firmer of the two. The grapefruit was originally presumed to be a naturally occurring hybrid of the pomelo and the mandarin; however, genome analysis shows that it is actually a backcrossed hybrid between a pomelo and a sweet orange, which is why 63% of the grapefruit's genome comes from the pomelo.^[10] The bitter orange is a hybrid of wild type mandarin and pomelo; in turn, the lemon is a hybrid of bitter orange and citron, i.e. cultivated lemons have some pomelo ancestry.^[9] In addition, there has been repeated introgression of pomelo genes into both early cultivated hybrid mandarins and later mandarin varieties, these last also involving hybridization with the sweet orange. Pomelo genes are thus included in many types of cultivated Citrus.^[9]

 

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the etymology of the word 'pomelo' is uncertain.^[11] It may be derived from Dutch pompelmoes.^[4] The Dutch name in turn has uncertain etymology, but is possibly derived from Dutch pompel 'swollen' or pompoen 'pumpkin', combined with limoes 'lemon, citrus fruit', influenced by Portuguese limões with the same meaning. An alternative possibility is that the Dutch name derives from Portuguese pomos limões 'citrus fruit'.^[12] The specific name maxima is the female form of the Latin for 'biggest'.^[13]

One theory for the alternative English name 'shaddock' is that it was adopted after the plant's introduction into Barbados by a 'Captain Shaddock' of the East India Company (apparently Philip Chaddock, who visited the island in the late 1640s).^[14][15][16] From there the name spread to Jamaica in 1696.^[17] The fruit is called jambola in varieties of English spoken in South Asia,^[4] and jabong in Hawai'i.^[18]

Pomelo, raw

Flesh of a pomelo
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	159 kJ (38 kcal)
Carbohydrates	9.62 g
Dietary fiber	1 g
Fat	0.04 g
Protein	0.76 g
Vitamins and minerals Vitamins Quantity %DV† Thiamine (B1) 3% 0.034 mg Riboflavin (B2) 2% 0.027 mg Niacin (B3) 1% 0.22 mg Vitamin B6 2% 0.036 mg Vitamin C 68% 61 mg Minerals Quantity %DV† Iron 1% 0.11 mg Magnesium 1% 6 mg Manganese 1% 0.017 mg Phosphorus 1% 17 mg Potassium 7% 216 mg Sodium 0% 1 mg Zinc 1% 0.08 mg
Other constituents	Quantity
Water	89 g
Link to USDA Database entry
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[19] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[20]

Raw pomelo flesh is 89% water, 10% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and contains negligible fat. A 100-gram reference amount provides 159 kilojoules (38 kilocalories) of food energy, and is rich in vitamin C (68% of the Daily Value), with no other micronutrients in significant content (table).

The flesh and juice are edible, and the rind is used to make preserves, or may be candied.^[4] In Brazil, the outer part of the rind is 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, sometimes sprinkled with sugar. In large parts of Southeast Asia where pomelo is native it is commonly eaten as a dessert, sprinkled with salt or dipped in a salt mixture, or made into salads.^[4] In the Philippines, a pink beverage is made from pomelo and pineapple juice.^[21]

The fruit may have been introduced to China around 100 BCE.^[4] In East Asia, especially in Cantonese cuisine, braised pomelo pith is used to make dishes that are high in fibre and low in fat.^[22]

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  Ipoh pomelos on sale in Singapore
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  Tam som-o nam pu: spicy Thai pomelo salad with crab extract

The pomelo, while not itself toxic, can cause adverse interactions similar to those caused by the grapefruit with a wide range of prescription drugs. These occur by the inhibition of cytochrome P450-mediated metabolism of prescription drugs including for example some anti-hypertensives, some anticoagulants, some anticancer agents, some anti-infective agents, some statins, and some immunosuppressants.^[23]

The seeds of the pomelo are monoembryonic, producing seedlings with genes from both parents, but they are usually similar to the tree they grow from and therefore pomelo are typically grown from seeds in Asia.^[4] Seeds can be stored for 80 days at a temperature of 5 °C (41 °F) with moderate relative humidity.^[4] Citrus maxima is usually grafted onto other citrus rootstocks outside Asia to produce trees that are identical to the parent; high-quality varieties are propagated by air-layering or by budding onto favored rootstocks.^[4] Dangyuja is a non-hybrid variety; Banpeiyu may be another.

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  Fujian's Pinghe County is famous in China for its pomelos
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  Orchard