Beautiful Botanicals: Grapefruit

THE grapefruit (Citrus × paradisi) is a sub-tropical citrus tree known for its large, semi-sweet to sour, somewhat bitter fruit, writes columnist Joanne Howdle.

The evergreen grapefruit tree usually grows to around five-to-six metres tall, although grapefruit trees have been known to grow up to 13–15 metres. The leaves of the botanical are thin, glossy, and dark green and grow up to 15 centimetres long.

The botanical has four-petalled white flowers and produces fruit that is oblate spheroid in shape. The interior flesh is segmented and varies in colour from deep pink to pale yellow. The name ‘grapefruit’ is commonly believed to come from the fact that the botanical grows in bunches, like grapes.

White grapefruit is a naturally occurring citrus hybrid of the Jamaican sweet orange (Citrus x sinensis) and the Indonesian pomelo (Citrus maxima). Allegedly, a trader called Captain Philip Chaddock brought pomelo seeds from Indonesia and introduced them to the West Indies in the 17th century. White grapefruit originally known as ‘Shaddocks’, possibly after Captain Chaddock, then developed from a spontaneous cross between sweet orange and pomelo.

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A hybrid citrus fruit – perhaps the grapefruit – was first recorded as the ‘forbidden fruit’ in a book entitled The Natural History of Barbados (1750), written by a Welsh clergyman, natural historian, and author called Reverend Griffith Hughes (1707 – circa 1758), who was rector of St. Lucy’s Parish in Barbados. Grapefruit now grows all over the world, with China taking the lead by harvesting seven times more of it than the next-largest producer, the USA.

A Frenchman named Odet Philippe is credited with bringing the white grapefruit to America and introducing the botanical to Florida in the 1820s. In the 1900s, an enormously successful retired insurance executive named Kimball Chase Atwood, planted 16,000 grapefruit trees on 265 acres he had purchased just south of Tampa Bay.

In 1910, one of Atwood’s workers discovered that one tree was producing pink grapefruits. Atwood soon became the world’s biggest producer of pink grapefruit, supplying what was considered a luxury product to the aristocracy.

The sour, bitter taste of grapefruit, which has a slightly medicinal quality, saw the botanical being associated with health.

In the 1930s, 1980s and 1990s grapefruit, which is extremely low in calories, led to the development of the ‘Grapefruit Diet’. However, consuming just 500 calories per day entirely in grapefruit is not particularly healthy and eating it will not cause you to lose weight. The fibre content, as well as its nutrient boost, is however a healthy way to start the day.

In cooking grapefruit pairs well with fish and pork and can be macerated to make a tart dressing or acidic marinade for ceviche. Even though grapefruit lacks the sweetness of its citrus cousins, it works very well in desserts. Freshly squeezed grapefruit juice can be used to make ice cream or sorbet, or the peel can be candied and sprinkled on top of a glazed cake and other desserts.

Grapefruit juice can be mixed with tequila for a refreshing Paloma cocktail, paired with sparkling wine for a twist on a Mimosa, or used to add a refreshing note to summertime beers. Grapefruit peel is commonly used as a botanical in gin manufacture. White grapefruit peel adds a zesty dryness to the spirit, while pink grapefruit peel adds a complex zestiness with a more bittersweet floral note.

- Joanne Howdle is Interpretation and Engagement Manager at the multi award-winning Dunnet Bay Distillers Ltd.