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Grapefruits come in a variety of colours including yellow, pink and red, and they have a variety of flavours, from sweet to sour. Half a fresh grapefruit, or 80g of tinned grapefruit, counts as one five-a-day portion and 150ml of unsweetened grapefruit juice also counts, but only once due to its high sugar content. Discover more ways to reach your five-a-day. Top 5 health benefits of grapefruit1. This means they help protect cells from the potential damage caused by unstable molecules called free radicals.
In particular, they’re a good source of beta-carotene, which is converted in the body to vitamin A, and is thought to reduce the risk of chronic conditions including macular degeneration. Grapefruit is rich in potassium and fibre, as well as protective antioxidants which may help manage blood pressure and cholesterol levels. The NHS advises that fresh grapefruit or grapefruit juice should not be consumed with certain medications, as it has been shown to reduce their breakdown and elimination, which can result in increased blood levels of the drug. Read more from the NHS about how grapefruit can affect medicine. This page was last updated on 23 August 2021 by Kerry Torrens.
Over the last 15 years she has been a contributing author to a number of nutritional and cookery publications including BBC Good Food. Nicola Shubrook is a nutritional therapist and works with both private clients and the corporate sector. If you have any concerns about your general health, you should contact your local healthcare provider. See our website terms and conditions for more information. This website is published by Immediate Media Company Limited under licence from BBC Studios Distribution. This article is about the fruit.
The interior flesh is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark pink. Grapefruit is a citrus hybrid originating in Barbados. Other significant producers include Vietnam, United States and Mexico. Grapefruit originated as a natural hybrid. Tree in this or any of our neighbouring Islands. Orange, in its delicious Taste and Flavour. Griffith Hughes, who described specimens from Barbados in The Natural History of Barbados.
In 1814, naturalist John Lunan published the term grapefruit to describe a similar Jamaican citrus plant. In 1830, the Jamaican version of the plant was given the botanical name Citrus paradisi by botanist James Macfadyen. The name grape-fruit was used more and more during the 19th century to refer to pomelos, to the consternation of some. The grapefruit was brought to Florida by Count Odet Philippe in 1823, in what is now known as Safety Harbor. Its true origins were not determined until the 1940s. An early pioneer in the American citrus industry was Kimball Atwood, a wealthy entrepreneur who founded the Atwood Grapefruit Company in the late 19th century. The Atwood Grove became the largest grapefruit grove in the world, with a yearly output of 80,000 boxes of fruit.
There, pink grapefruit was first discovered in 1906. The varieties of Texas and Florida grapefruit include: ‘Duncan’, ‘Flame’, ‘Henderson’, ‘Hudson’, ‘Marsh’, ‘Oro Blanco’, ‘Pink’, ‘Pummelo HB’, ‘Ray’, ‘Rio Star’, ‘Ruby Red’, ‘Star Ruby’, ‘Thompson’, ‘Triumph’, ‘Walters’, ‘White Marsh’. It was a limb sport of a ‘Thompson’ grapefruit selected by A. The ‘Thompson’ was a limb sport from a ‘Marsh’ grapefruit selected in 1913.