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Grapefruit Varieties

Here’s a quick reference for grapefruit varities:

Duncan: lots of seeds, white flesh with great flavor; excellent for juicing; perhaps the oldest variety.

Flame: nearly seedless with red flesh and a slight rind blush.

Marsh (Marsh Seedless): nearly seedless, white-fleshed, medium-size with smooth yellow skin; it’s very juicy, tender and aromatic. You’ll find a balance of acidity and sweetness but somewhat less flavor than seeded varieties. This is a reliable old cultivar that’s great for juicing.

Redblush (also called Ruby Red and Ruby): seedless, pale-pink fleshed, and a yellow skin tinged with red. Red flesh fades to pink, then buff by end of season.

Rio Red: seedless, distinctly reddish skin and deep red flesh; firmer and smoother than Redblush; sweet-tart taste; excellent for juicing.

Star Ruby: seedless with the reddest flesh; clean and crisp tasting; easy-to-peel skin; smaller and less acidic than other varieties.

 

Grapefruit-Pummelo Hybrids

Melogold: grapefruit-pommelo hybrid developed in California; seedless with a sweet-tart flavor; bigger, heavier and thinner skinned than the Oroblanco; needs less heat than the true grapefruit.

Oroblanco: fruit is smaller, lighter and thicker skinned than Melogold; sweeter than Melogold; seedless with white flesh.

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Rio Red Grapefruit

The first recorded mention of a grapefruit came in 1750 when it was found growing in Barbados—the easternmost island of the West Indies.

Yearly temperatures average 79ºF (26ºC) in Barbados. That tells you something about what it takes to grow a grapefruit—which is thought to have gotten its start as a cross between a sweet orange and a pummelo, also called pomelo.

Grapefruits grow best in places like Florida, South Texas, Southern California, Arizona, Israel, Argentina and South Africa. In climates similar to its native region, a grapefruit can ripen in as little as six months. Grown elsewhere, the grapefruit can take a year or even 18 months to ripen.

Grapefruits—which can measure anywhere from 4½-11 inches (11-17 cm) in diameter--come to market at different times of the year. If you look at a weather map, you can pretty much figure out where the grapefruit at your market is coming from by following the daily average temperatures for a week or so. In the United States, Florida and Texas grapefruits are in the market from October through June, and California and Arizona grapefruits are in the market from February through November.

The Rio Red grapefruit at your market this week probably came from South Texas somewhere along the Rio Grande River. It’s grapefruit harvest time there right now.

The Rio Red is a seedless grapefruit with a yellow to deep ruby-pink flesh and a sweet-tart flavor. It is a large and firm grapefruit with a smooth and distinctly reddish skin. The Rio Red is excellent for juicing.

Grapefruits in general are dived into natural types: there are common white or yellow-fleshed grapefruits, and there are pigmented or pale pink to ruby red grapefruits. There are also seeded and seedless grapefruits. Beyond flesh color and seeds, you can generally say that seeded grapefruits are more flavorful than seedless.

Obviously, grapefruits have a sharper flavor than oranges. The heat a grapefruit grows in has much to do with how long it takes to reach maturity and ripeness and can affect the sweet-tartness of the fruit. In hot regions, the grapefruit can mature in as few as six to seven months. Grapefruit grown in costal areas can take as long as 18 months to ripen. Costal grown grapefruit will taste more tart and have a thicker rind.

By the way, the grapefruit took its name from the French word for “clusters” which is grappes. Grapefruits grow in grapelike clusters on trees that reach to 30 feet (9 m) tall.

Choose: A grapefruit should be heavy for its size (which means more juice), quite firm, with a fine-textured, tight, shiny skin. Seeded grapefruits are said to have the best flavor and are easier to separate into segments. To the touch, a grapefruit should be springy; avoid fruits that are overly soft. The more blush of pink or red on the skin, the deeper the color of the flesh.

Store: A grapefruit will keep for up to two weeks when stored loose in the refrigerator. Don’t leave a grapefruit at room temperature for more than a day or two.

Serve: The grapefruit can be served fresh, halved or segmented as a breakfast fruit with a sprinkling of sugar. It can also be added to green salads, fruit salads or served with cheesecakes, flans or sorbets.

Grapefruits are easier to eat if the segments are first loosened with a curved grapefruit knife or serrated spoon. When segments of citrus are separated from the membranes holding them together, they are referred to by some cooks as supremes.

Grapefruit can also be grilled and served with duck, chicken, pork or shrimp.

Tip: Grapefruits are more difficult to peel than oranges. If you want to remove the white pith easily, drop the whole grapefruit in a pot of boiling water. Then remove the pot from the heat and let stand for 3 minutes. Remove the fruit and let it cool. Then peel the grapefruit, and you will see that the pith will easily come off the fruit.

The botanical name for the grapefruit is Citrus x paradisi.

 

 

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Oro Blanco Grapefruit

There is the grapefruit, and there is the pomelo. The pomelo is an ancestor of the grapefruit, but it is bigger, firmer and less juicy than the grapefruit.

And then there is the oro blanco—sometimes called the oro blanco grapefruit. The oro blanco is a cross between a pomelo and a grapefruit. Oro blanco in Spanish means white gold.

The oro blanco is worth its weight in gold if you want a sweet grapefruit flavor that is without the grapefruit bite or acidity. And if you want a fruit that is almost entirely seedless with a thick, peelable skin that comes right off. Sounds good!

The oro blanco is coming to harvest now and should be easy to get right through May.

Choose: Like a grapefruit, choose an oro blanco that is heavy for its size; it will be more juicy. You can keep it at room temperature for 2 weeks or put it in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Serve: Just picked is best. Great served with fish or seafood or in a green salad.

 

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