Question: How large are pomelos?

Pomelo




The pomelo, Citrus maxima or Citrus grandis, is the largest citrus fruit from the Rutaceae family. It is a natural (non-hybrid) citrus fruit, similar in appearance to a large grapefruit, native to South and Southeast Asia. The pomelo is one of the original citrus species from which the rest of cultivated citrus hybridized. The popular fruit is used in many Chinese festive celebrations throughout Southeast Asia.
Etymology

After a Captain Shaddock of an East India Company ship introduced it to Barbados, the fruit was called "shaddock" in English.[1][2] From there the name spread to Jamaica in 1696.[3] It remains a common name for the fruit among English authors.[4]
The word "pomelo" (also spelled pomello, pummelo, pommelo, pumelo) has become the more common name, although "pomelo" has historically been used for grapefruit. (The 1973 printing of the American Heritage Dictionary, for example, gives grapefruit as the only meaning of "pomelo.")
The etymology of the word "pomelo" is complex. In Tamil it is called "pampa limāsu", which means big citrus. The name was adopted by the Portuguese as "pomposos limões" and then by the Dutch as "pompelmoes". With some deviations, the name may be found in many European languages, such as German (pampelmuse), Latvian (pampelmūze), Ido (pompelmuso), whereas some other languages use "pomelo" (Turkish, Norwegian, Polish, Bulgarian). In Southeast Asia, it is commonly known as limau besar, limau betawi, or limau serdadu in Malay; jeruk bali in Bahasa Indonesia; ส้มโอ [som o:] in Thai; lukban in Tagalog; buongon in Cebuano; and bu’o’i in Vietnamese.
It has been suggested, but not attested, that "pomelo" is an alteration of a compound of English words pome ("apple") + melon.[5]
The fruit is also known as jabong in Hawaii and jambola in varieties of English spoken in South Asia.

Description and uses


Typically, the fruit is pale green to yellow when ripe, with sweet white (or, more rarely, pink or red) flesh, and a very thick albedo (rind pith). It is a large citrus fruit, 15–25 centimetres (5.9–9.8in) in diameter,[6] usually weighing 1–2 kilograms (2.2–4.4lb). Leaf petioles are distinctly winged.

The typical pomelo is much larger than the grapefruit, and also has a much thicker rind. It tastes like a sweet, mild grapefruit (believed to be a hybrid of Citrus maxima and the orange).[7] The flesh has none, or very little, of the common grapefruit's bitterness. The enveloping membranous material around the segments is bitter, considered inedible, and usually discarded.
Sometimes, the peel is used to make marmalade. It may be candied, or dipped in chocolate. In Brazil the thick skin is often used for making a sweet conserve, while the spongy pith of the rind is discarded. In Sri Lanka it is often eaten as a dessert, either raw or sprinkled with sugar. Some fatty Asian dishes use sliced pre-soaked pith to absorb the sauce and fat for eating.
In large parts of Southeast Asia, where Citrus maxima is native,[8] it is a popular dessert, often eaten raw and sprinkled with, or dipped in, a salt mixture. It is eaten in salads and drinks as well.
Citrus maxima is usually grafted onto other citrus rootstocks, but may be grown from seed.
The fruit is said to have been introduced to Japan by a Cantonese captain in the An'ei era (1772–1781).[9] There are two varieties: a sweet kind with white flesh and a sour kind with pinkish flesh, the latter more likely to be used as an altar decoration than eaten. Pomelos often are eaten in Asia during the mid-autumn festival or mooncake festival.
It is one of the ingredients of "Forbidden Fruit", a liqueur dating back to the early twentieth century that also contains honey and brandy. This liqueur is most famously used in the Dorchester cocktail.
Genetic diversity
A study was conducted on different pummelo accessions from Bengal, India, and a wide variability was observed in the fruit physico-chemical characters. The result shows that the fruit skin colour shows variation from greenish-yellow to orange; most of the fruits are round, and others are oval. The placental tissues shows colour variability from whitish to pink and even reddish. The taste of the juice is usually classified as sweet, but it is sometimes classified as sour or very sweet. Accession-17 had the maximum average weight, 1223.67g; the lightest fruit was accession-16, at 556.33g. The length and breadth of the fruit was found maximum in accession 17  (13.17cm) and Accession-20 (12.17cm) and minimum in accession 14 (10.2cm) and 11 (8.4cm). The peel-pulp ratio was maximum in accession 13 and minimum in accession 3. Juice content was found maximum in accession 4 and minimum in accession 3. TSS was observed in ACC-15 (13.6 Brix)and minimum in ACC-13 (10 brix). The total sugar was maximum in ACC-22 (4.33%)and minimum in ACC-3 (4.15%).[10]
Drug interactions

Some medicines may interact dangerously with pomelos and some pomelo hybrids, including grapefruit, some limes, and some oranges.[11]
Other uses
Pomelo leaves are used for aromatic baths. The essential oil can be extracted from the leaves, peel or seeds of some pomelo species. Oil from the seeds of an inferior pomelo species was used to light opium pipes in Indochina. Perfumes are extracted from the flowers using enfleurage. The moderately heavy and hard timber from pomelo trees can be used to make, among other things, tool handles.
Varieties
Non-hybrid pomelos
Dangyuja
Possible non-hybrid pomelos
Banpeiyu
Hybrids

The pomelo is one of the original citrus species from which the rest of cultivated citrus hybridized, (others being citron, mandarin, and to a lesser extent, papedas and kumquat). In particular, the common orange and the grapefruit are presumed to be naturally occurring hybrids between the pomelo and the mandarin, with the pomelo providing the larger size and greater firmness.
The pomelo is employed today in artificial breeding programs:
The common sweet orange (Citrus × sinensis) is a pomelo × mandarin hybrid
The bitter orange (Citrus × aurantium) is another pomelo × mandarin hybrid
The tangelo is any hybrid between Citrus maxima and a tangerine, it generally has a thicker skin than a tangerine and is less sweet
'K–Early' ('Sunrise Tangelo')[12]
Grapefruit is a pomelo backcross: pomelo × sweet orange (see above) and the grapefruit is a parent to many hybrids:
'Minneola': Bowen grapefruit × Dancy tangerine[12]
'Orlando' (formerly Take'): Bowen grapefruit × Dancy tangerine(pollen parent)[12]
'Nova': Clementine × Orlando tangelo cross[12]
'Seminole': Bowen grapefruit × Dancy tangerine[12]
'Thornton': tangerine × grapefruit, unspecified[12]
'Ugli': mandarine × grapefruit, probable (wild seedling)[12]
The Oroblanco and Melogold grapefruits are hybrids between Citrus maxima and the grapefruit
Mandelos: pomelo × mandarine (Citrus maxima)
Hyuganatsu is a pomelo hybrid
Gallery

This white hybrid Pomelo is cushioned with a thick mesocarp layer
Pomelos
Pomelo after being cut
Pink pomelo juice vesicles
Cluster of flower buds
Pomelo blossom
Pomelo flowers in early April
Pomelo on tree, has fruit and blossoms at the same time
Fujian's Pinghe County is famous in China for its pomelos
Pomelo orchard
Pink pomelo
Pomelo in southern Vietnam
Pomelo seedling
Ipoh pomelos on sale at Chinatown, Singapore
Tam som-o nam pu: spicy Thai pomelo salad with crab extract





 from USDA SR 22 database