English Name: Grapefruit
Botanical Name: citrus paradisi
DESCRIPTION: A large round yellow citrus fruit about three times the size of an average orange much more sour than an orange and with a bitter tang too.
ORIGIN: The grapefruit is the Jamaican sweet orange (citrus sinensis) . The grapefruit was first described in 1750 by Griffith Hughes. The origin of the grapefruit, also known as its Latin name, citrus paradisi, has been a puzzle to historians and pomologists for years. The only citrus strain fruit not found to have originated in Southeast Asia, the grape fruit was obtained in the West Indies around the 1700s. Years later, research confirmed that grapefruit is a hybrid of pomelo (citrus grandis) , and the sweet orange (citrus sinensis).
Originally known as “the forbidden fruit” it wasn’t until the 1800s that a Jamaican farmer called the fruit “grapefruit”. For the grape like cluster in which grows on trees. In 1823, grapefruit made its way into the United States in the form of seeds brought by either Spanish or French settlers to Florida. Eventually, grapefruit made its way into South Texas, most likely by visiting Spanish missioners. John Shary (1872–1945) a developer originally from Omaha, Nebraska. Initial grapefruit plantings in Texas were the white varieties followed by the pink varieties. It was later accidentally in 1929 that the red grapefruit was observed growing on a pink grapefruit tree gave rise to the Texas Red Grapefruit company.
NATURAL BENEFITS: The grapefruit is rich in essential vitamins and minerals.
USES: Eaten raw as a dessert, used as fruit juice also used in some cookings and to garnish various fruit juice.
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