pomelo
{{Short description|Citrus fruit from Southeast Asia}}
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{{Speciesbox
|name = Pomelo
|image = Pomelo fruit.jpg
|image2 =
|status = LC
|status_system = IUCN3.1
|genus = Citrus
|species = maxima
}}
The pomelo ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ɒ|m|ɪ|l|oʊ|,_|ˈ|p|ʌ|m|-}} {{respell|POM|il|oh|,_|PUM|-}};{{cite book |title=The Chambers Dictionary |publisher=Chambers |year=2003 |isbn=0-550-10105-5 |edition=9th |chapter=pomelo}}{{cite Merriam-Webster |pomelo |access-date=2021-01-25}} 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 and Malaysia. 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 may be {{convert|16|–|50|ft|m|0|order=flip|abbr=off|sp=us}} tall, with a trunk, often rather crooked, that is {{convert|4|–|12|in|cm|0|order=flip|abbr=off|sp=us}} thick, and low-hanging, irregular branches. The petioles (leaf stalks) are distinctly winged. The leaves are alternate, ovate or elliptic in shape and {{cvt|2|–|8|in|cm|0|order=flip}} long; they are leathery and dull green above, hairy beneath. The flowers – single or in clusters – are fragrant and yellow-white in color.
The fruit is large, {{cvt|10|–|30|cm|in|frac=2}} in diameter, round or somewhat pear-shaped. Its weight varies by cultivar from {{convert|0.26|-|1.95|kg|lb|1|abbr=off|sp=us}}.{{cite journal |last1=Pan |first1=Tengfei |last2=Ali |first2=Muhammad Moaaz |last3=Gong |first3=Jiangmei |last4=She |first4=Wenqin |last5=Pan |first5=Dongming |last6=Guo |first6=Zhixiong |last7=Yu |first7=Yuan |last8=Chen |first8=Faxing |title=Fruit Physiology and Sugar-Acid Profile of 24 Pomelo (Citrus grandis (L.) Osbeck) Cultivars Grown in Subtropical Region of China |journal=Agronomy |volume=11 |issue=12 |date=24 November 2021 |issn=2073-4395 |doi=10.3390/agronomy11122393 |doi-access=free |page=2393|bibcode=2021Agron..11.2393P }} It has a thicker rind than a grapefruit, and is divided into 11 to 18 segments.{{cite web |last=Morton |first=Julia F. |url=http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/pummelo.html |title=Pummelo: Citrus maxima| pages=147–151 |work=Fruits of warm climates |publisher=NewCROP, New Crop Resource Online Program, Center for New Crops and Plant Products, Purdue University |date=1987 |access-date=31 January 2020}} The flesh is less acidic than that of the grapefruit.{{cite web |first=Julia F. |last=Morton |url=http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/grapefruit.html |title=Grapefruit: Citrus paradisi |pages=152–158 |work=Fruits of warm climates |publisher= NewCROP, New Crop Resource Online Program, Center for New Crops and Plant Products, Purdue University |date=1987 |access-date=31 January 2020 }} There are at least sixty cultivars.{{cite news |last=Kelley |first=Jeanne |title=Pomelos, grapefruit's sweeter and mellower relative, have a wealth of flavor |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=February 13, 2016 |url=https://www.latimes.com/food/la-fo-pomelo-20160213-story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212231651/https://www.latimes.com/food/la-fo-pomelo-20160213-story.html |archive-date=February 12, 2016 |access-date=November 19, 2021}} The fruit generally contains a few, relatively large seeds, but some varieties 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.
File:Pomelo seedling.jpg|Seedling
File:Pomelo flower.jpg|Flowers
File:Bưởi.jpg|Tree
File:Citrus grandis - Honey White.jpg|Fruit
History
= Ancestral ''Citrus'' species =
{{see also|Citrus taxonomy}}
File:Pummelo or Pamplemousse (Citrus maxima (Burm.) Merr.); flowe Wellcome V0042686.jpg by P. Depannemaeker, c. 1885]]
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.{{Cite book |last=Klein |first=Joshua D. |volume=2 |pages=199–214 |doi=10.1007/978-94-017-9276-9_10 |series=Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the World |year=2014 |title=Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the Middle-East |isbn=978-94-017-9275-2 |chapter=Citron Cultivation, Production and Uses in the Mediterranean Region}}{{cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=Guohong Albert |last2=Terol |first2=Javier |last3=Ibanez |first3=Victoria |last4=López-García |first4=Antonio |last5=Pérez-Román |first5=Estela |last6=Borredá |first6=Carles |last7=Domingo |first7=Concha |last8=Tadeo |first8=Francisco R. |last9=Carbonell-Caballero |first9=Jose |last10=Alonso |first10=Roberto |last11=Curk |first11=Franck |last12=Du |first12=Dongliang |last13=Ollitrault |first13=Patrick |last14=Roose |first14=Mikeal L. Roose |last15=Dopazo |first15=Joaquin |last16=Gmitter Jr |first16=Frederick G. |last17=Rokhsar |first17=Daniel |last18=Talon |first18=Manuel |display-authors=5 |title=Genomics of the origin and evolution of Citrus |journal=Nature |year=2018 |volume=554 |issue=7692 |pages=311–316 |doi=10.1038/nature25447 |pmid=29414943 |bibcode=2018Natur.554..311W |doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11939/5741 |hdl-access=free}} and Supplement
The bitter orange is a naturally occurring hybrid between the pomelo and the mandarin. The grapefruit is a hybrid between a pomelo and a sweet orange, which is why 63% of the grapefruit's genome comes from the pomelo.{{cite journal |url=https://journals.ashs.org/horttech/view/journals/horttech/aop/article-10.21273-HORTTECH04679-20/article-10.21273-HORTTECH04679-20.xml |title=Grapefruit: History, Use, and Breeding in: HortTechnology Volume 31 Issue 3 (2021) |journal=Horttechnology |publisher=Journals.ashs.org |date=June 2021|volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=243–258 |doi=10.21273/HORTTECH04679-20 |accessdate=2022-05-01 |last1=Louzada |first1=Eliezer S. |last2=Ramadugu |first2=Chandrika |doi-access=free }} 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. 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.
File:Hybrid origins of Citrus.svg species including the bitter orange and the grapefruit, and less directly also of the lemon, the sweet orange, and some types of mandarin.]]
= Etymology =
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the etymology of the word 'pomelo' is uncertain.{{Cite OED|pomelo|id=147483}} It may be derived from Dutch {{lang|nl|pompelmoes}}. The Dutch name in turn has uncertain etymology, but is possibly derived from Dutch {{lang|nl|pompel}} 'swollen' or {{lang|nl|pompoen}} 'pumpkin', combined with {{lang|nl|limoes}} 'lemon, citrus fruit', influenced by Portuguese {{lang|pt|limões}} with the same meaning. An alternative possibility is that the Dutch name derives from Portuguese {{lang|pt|pomos limões}} 'citrus fruit'.{{cite web |title=pompelmoes - (grote citrusvrucht (Citrus maxima)) |url=https://etymologiebank.nl/trefwoord/pompelmoes |website=Etymologiebank.nl |access-date=1 November 2024}}
The specific name maxima is the female form of the Latin for 'biggest'.{{cite web |title=maximus |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/maximus |publisher=Cambridge Dictionary |access-date=28 October 2024}}
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).{{cite journal |last1=Kumamoto |first1=J. |last2=Scora |first2=R.W. |last3=Lawton |first3=H.W. |last4=Clerx |first4=W.A. |title=Mystery of the Forbidden Fruit: Historical Epilogue on the Origin of the Grapefruit, Citrus paradisi (Rutaceae) |journal=Economic Botany |year=1987 |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=97–107 |doi=10.1007/BF02859356 |bibcode=1987EcBot..41...97K |s2cid=42178548 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.itfnet.org/v1/2013/03/2406/ |title=Pomelo: The 'lucky' giant citrus |date=21 March 2013}} From there the name spread to Jamaica in 1696.American Heritage Dictionary, 1973.
= Taxonomy =
In his Herbarium Amboinense, published posthumously in 1741, Georg Eberhard Rumphius named it Limo decumanus.{{cite book |last=Rumphius |first=Georg Eberhard |author-link=Georg Eberhard Rumphius |title=Herbarium Amboinense |date=1741 |page=96 |volume=2}}
In 1753, Carl Linnaeus mentioned the plant as a subspecies, Citrus aurantium var grandis.{{cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Linnaeus |title=Species plantarum |date=1753 |page=783}} In 1755, Johannes Burman validly described the species from the type specimen, giving it the name Aurantium maximum, now considered a basionym. In 1757, Pehr Osbeck named it Citrus grandis.{{cite book |last=Osbeck |first=Pehr |author-link=Pehr Osbeck |title=Dagbok öfwer en ostindisk Resa åren 1750 |language=sv |trans-title=Diary of an East Indian Journey in the Year 1750 |date=1757 |page=98}} Linnaeus revisited the taxonomy in 1767, renaming the species as Citrus decumana.{{cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Linnaeus |title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae |title-link=Systema naturae |date=1767 |page=508 |chapter=12}} In 1917, Elmer Drew Merrill revised and renamed it Citrus maxima.{{cite web |title=Taxon: Citrus maxima (Burm.) Merr. |url=https://agb.amvmt.lt/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=10744 |website=Augalų Genų Bankas GRIN-Global |access-date=1 March 2025}}{{cite book |last=Merrill |first=Elmer Drew |author-link=Elmer Drew Merrill |title=An interpretation of Rumphius's Herbarium amboinense |date=1917 |publisher=Bureau of printing |location=Manila, Philippines |page=296 |url=https://archive.org/details/interpretationof00merr}} Aurantioideae remains as a subfamily.{{cite web |title=Citrus maxima (CIDGR) |url=https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/CIDGR |website=EPPO Global Database |access-date=1 March 2025}}
As food
= Nutrition =
{{nutritional value
| name = Pomelo, raw
| image = Pomelo flesh.jpg
| caption = Flesh of a pomelo
| kJ=159
| protein = 0.76 g
| fat = 0.04 g
| carbs = 9.62 g
| fiber = 1 g
| iron_mg = 0.11
| magnesium_mg = 6
| phosphorus_mg= 17
| potassium_mg = 216
| sodium_mg = 1
| zinc_mg = 0.08
| manganese_mg = 0.017
| vitC_mg = 61
| thiamin_mg = 0.034
| riboflavin_mg= 0.027
| niacin_mg = 0.22
| vitB6_mg = 0.036
| water=89 g
| source_usda = 1
| note=[https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/167754/nutrients Link to USDA Database entry]
}}
Raw pomelo flesh is 89% water, 10% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and contains negligible fat. A 100-gram reference amount provides {{convert|159|kJ|kcal|abbr=off}} of food energy, and is rich in vitamin C (68% of the Daily Value), with no other micronutrients in significant content (table).
= Culinary =
The flesh and juice are edible, and the peel may be candied. It is eaten as a dessert, or used in salads. In the Philippines, a pink beverage is made from pomelo and pineapple juice.{{cite book |last1=Hargreaves |first1=Dorothy |last2=Hargreaves |first2=Bob |title=Tropical Trees of the Pacific |year=1970 |publisher=Hargreaves |location=Kailua, Hawaii |page=51}}
In East Asia, especially in Cantonese cuisine, braised pomelo pith is used to make dishes that are high in fibre and low in fat.{{cite web |title=Braised pomelo pith |url=https://www.weekinchina.com/2017/12/braised-pomelo-pith/ |website=Week in China |access-date=22 August 2020 |date=8 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125234152/https://www.weekinchina.com/2017/12/braised-pomelo-pith/ |archive-date=2021-01-25 }}
File:Pomelos for sale, Tapah.jpg|Ipoh pomelos on sale in Malaysia
File:Tam som-o nam pu.JPG|Tam som-o nam pu: spicy Thai pomelo salad with crab extract
= Drug interactions =
{{Main|Grapefruit–drug interactions}}
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.{{cite journal |last1=Bailey |first1=D. G. |last2=Dresser |first2=G. |last3=Arnold |first3=J. M. O. |title=Grapefruit-medication interactions: Forbidden fruit or avoidable consequences? |journal=Canadian Medical Association Journal |volume=185 |issue=4 |date=26 November 2012 |doi=10.1503/cmaj.120951 |pages=309–316 |pmc=3589309 |pmid=23184849}}
Cultivation
The seeds of the pomelo are monoembryonic, producing seedlings with genes from both parents, so they do not breed true to type. However, they are usually fairly similar to the tree they grow from and therefore in Asia, pomelos are typically grown from seed. Seeds can be stored for 80 days at a temperature of {{convert|41|F|C|order=flip|abbr=on}} with moderate relative humidity. Pomelos can be propagated vegetatively by air-layering, by taking cuttings, by grafting, by shield budding, or by tissue culture.{{cite web |title=[Pomelo] Propagation |url=http://www.itfnet.org/contents/fruit/fruitInfo/html/trdLevel2043.html |publisher=International Tropical Fruits Network |access-date=24 March 2025}}
File:Xiancun - pomelo orchards - DSCF4064.JPG|Pomelos in Pinghe County, Fujian
File:Vườn bưởi.jpg|Orchard in Vietnam
In culture
The pomelo is used in cultural and spiritual festivals across Asia. In China, during the Lunar New Year festival, the fruit is offered to ancestors. Its name is similar to the word for "to have" (有, yǒu), making it a symbol of prosperity and family unity.{{cite web |last=Guri |first=Catohrinner Joyce |date=2015-09-27 |title=Significance of pomelo for Chinese people |url=https://asianitinerary.com/significance-of-pomelo-for-chinese-people/ |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=Asian Itinerary}} In Thailand, pomelo is used in rituals such as the Songkran festival.{{Cite news |last=Svasti |first=Pichaya |date=2013-08-15 |title=Pomelo festival in Samut Songkhram |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/life/travel/364710/pomelo-festival-in-samut-songkhram |access-date=2025-02-04 |work=Bangkok Post |language=en}} In the Hindu festival of Chhath Puja, pomelo is used as an offering.{{cite news |last=Yadav |first=Shikha |title=Markets bloom with traditional offerings |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ranchi/chhath-puja-2024-discover-traditional-offerings-and-festive-rituals-in-ranchis-markets/articleshow/115032350.cms |newspaper=The Times of India |date=November 7, 2024}}
File:Chhat Puja with Pomelo.jpg|Chhat Puja with pomelo, India
References
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{{Citrus}}
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Category:Flora of tropical Asia