POMELO

The 'pomelo' (or 'Chinese grapefruit', 'pummelo', 'pommelo', 'jabong', 'boongon', 'shaddock', 'Jeruk Bali' or 'suha'), ''Citrus maxima'' (Merr., Burm. f.), also ''Citrus grandis'' (L.), is a citrus fruit, usually a pale green to yellow when ripe, larger than a grapefruit, with sweet flesh and thick spongy rind.

Contents

Cultivation and uses

Gallery

See also

External links

Cultivation and uses

The pomelo is native to Southeast Asia and all of Malaysia, and grows wild on river banks in Fiji, Tonga, and Hawaii. It may have been introduced into China around 100 B.C. It is widely cultivated in southern China (Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Fujian Provinces) and especially in central Thailand on the banks to the Tha Chin River; also in Taiwan and southernmost Japan, southern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Tahiti and the Philippines. It is also grown commercially elsewhere, particularly California, Florida, and Israel.

The pomelo is also known as a ''shaddock'', after an English sea captain, Captain Shaddock, who introduced the seed to the West Indies in the 17th century from the Malay Archipelago. In the Pacific and Asia, it is known as ''jabong'' and in Chinese it is called ''yòuzi'' (柚子) (not to be confused with the ''yuzu'', which uses the same Chinese characters but is a different species), while it is called ''som o'' (ส้มโอ) in Thai, and ''buntan'' or ''banpeiyu'' in Japanese. In Burmese it is called ''kywègaw thee'' in the south and ''shaupann thee'' in upcountry.
The pulp colour ranges between clear pale yellow to pink to red, and tastes like a sweet, mild grapefruit. It is the largest citrus fruit, growing as large as 30 cm in diameter and weighing as much as 10 kg; the peel is thick, and is sometimes used to make marmalade.
The tangelo is a hybrid between the pomelo and the tangerine. It has a thicker skin than a tangerine and is less sweet.
The peel of the pomelo is also used in Chinese cooking or candied. In general, citrus peel is often used in southern Chinese cuisine for flavouring, especially in sweet soup desserts.

Gallery

See also

★ Grapefruit

★ Sweetie

★ Orange

External links

★ Pomelo

★ Pomelo

★ Jabong

★ Pomelos on the branch