The pomelo ( POM-il-oh, PUM-; 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 fruit, native to Southeast Asia. Similar in taste to a sweet grapefruit, the pomelo is commonly eaten and used for festive occasions throughout Southeast and East Asia. As with the grapefruit, phytochemicals in the pomelo have the potential for drug interactions.
Description
The pomelo tree can be 5–15 metres (16–50 feet) tall, with a trunk, often rather crooked, that is 10–30 centimetres (4–12 inches) thick, and low-hanging, irregular branches. The petioles (leaf stalks) are distinctly winged. The leaves are alternate, ovate or elliptic in shape, and 5–20 cm (2–8 in) long; they are leathery and dull green above, hairy beneath. The flowers, produced singly or in clusters, are fragrant and yellow-white.
The fruit is large, 10–30 cm (4–12 in) in diameter, round or somewhat pear-shaped. Its weight varies by cultivar from 0.26–1.95 kilograms (0.6–4.3 pounds). It has a thicker peel than a grapefruit, and is divided into 11 to 18 segments. The flesh is less acidic than that of the grapefruit.
The pomelo has at least sixty cultivars. The fruit generally contains a few, relatively large seeds, but some cultivars have numerous seeds. The characteristics of pomelo vary widely across South Asia.
The pomelo is native to Southeast Asia and all of Malaysia. The tree may have been introduced to China around 100 BCE, and is now heavily cultivated in Southern China. Seeds of the tree were first brought to the Americas in the late 1600s.
Seedling
Flowers
Tree
Fruit
History
Flowering and fruiting branch, chromolithograph by P. Depannemaeker, c. 1885
The pomelo is significant botanically as one of the three major wild ancestors of several...
