Pomelo: where did this citrus come from and how to use it correctly?

– Benefits – How to eat – Contraindications – Cultivation – How to choose – Hybrids

Pomelo is called a large citron, a swollen lemon, and even a melon apple. Where the first two associations came from is quite understandable, because the exotic fruit belongs to the citrus fruits, but the last name is apparently connected with its shape and size, since neither in taste nor in internal content the fruit is completely similar to either an apple or an apple. melon. It is the largest and “dryest” among its citrus counterparts. Its pulp contains the most elastic fibers - up to 11%. The taste of pomelo is slightly bitter, like grapefruit, but in general terms it is characterized as sweet and sour. The spherical or pear-shaped fruits can grow up to 30 cm in diameter, and their weight can reach 10 kg. Such giants are not found on the shelves of our stores; the maximum is about 1–1.5 kg.

Photo: ©

In open space, a citrus tree can grow up to 10–15 m in height. Its fragrant white-yellow flowers appear singly or in clusters. The pomelo fruit has a thick skin that protects 11–18 segments wrapped in thin skin. They, in turn, hide entire colonies of edible capsules with juice, which are, in fact, fruit pulp. Each slice contains seeds, their number depends on the type of citrus fruit.

It is assumed that the homeland of pomelo is Malaysia. The plant is successfully cultivated in Thailand, as well as in India, southern China, Japan, Israel and Vietnam. The ripening season for the fruit is November-February. Our amateur gardeners have learned how to grow small trees at home and even get fruits.

Photo: © Judgefloro

Benefits of pomelo

The exotic fruit is rich in potassium (more than 230 mg/100 g), which has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the heart and the condition of skeletal muscles. 100 g of citrus fruit contains 17 mg of phosphorus, 4 mg of calcium, 1 mg of sodium and more than 20 mg of ethacrynic acid, which has diuretic properties that help get rid of edema and, to some extent, high blood pressure. The fruits contain 89% water, 0.4–0.8% fiber and protein, no more than 0.3% fat and 10% carbohydrates. 100 g of pulp contains about 50 mg of vitamin C, as in lemon, orange, passion fruit, which is half the daily requirement for an adult and quite enough for schoolchildren 9–13 years old. Everyone knows that ascorbic acid helps strengthen the immune system and is an important component in the prevention of colds. As for vitamins B1 and B2, there are not enough of them in pomelo even for babies.

Photo: ©

Calorie content of pomelo: 100 g of pulp contains about 30–40 kcal, so the fruit has no energy value and fits perfectly into the diet.

One of the beneficial properties of the tropical fruit is its involvement in accelerating metabolic processes and burning fat deposits. It helps eliminate toxins and waste from the body, which has a positive effect on the absorption of nutrients entering the gastrointestinal tract along with other healthy foods. The essential oils contained in pomelo improve mood and increase vitality.

Salad with pomelo pulp Photo: © Takeaway

Pomelo and diet

Shaddock is a low-calorie product. Therefore, it is used in various diets. In order not to harm your body, you need to know how to eat pomelo correctly when losing weight.

Citrus contains just over 30 kilocalories per 100 g and has coarse fibers in its structure that are not digested, but only swell inside, which creates a satiating effect. Thus, less other products are consumed.

Eating the fruit helps burn fat and remove toxins from the body. To lose weight, you should eat not only the pulp, but also the fiber. The fruit is most useful when eaten fresh; it is eaten whole, made into smoothies, and added to salads.

By arranging fasting days with eating pomelo 2 times a week, you can lose up to 3 kg in a month. But you can dilute your daily diet with apples or fruits that appear on the shelves at this time of year.

How to eat pomelo fruit

In Thailand, as in China, the fruit is included in the recipes of many national dishes. It is consumed both raw and cooked; the pulp is added to salads, sauces and desserts. Pomelo is combined with fruits and berries, meat, vegetables, dairy products (sour cream, yogurt, kefir, cottage cheese), crab meat and fish, nuts, herbs and even chocolate. It is added to drinks, jellies and ice cream, sprinkled with sugar and salt.

To quickly clean a pomelo, you need to cut off the top and make several longitudinal cuts on the skin with a sharp knife. Next, the peel should be manually detached from the inside of the fruit. The translucent membranes separating the slices should be carefully removed and discarded, as they have a bitter taste. Candied fruits are made from the peel and jam is made, while the spongy white layer is removed and thrown into the trash. The peel is also dried and added to tea or used as an additional ingredient when cooking compotes or sauces.

Photo: © Allenchang

How to properly clean a broom

Before the pomelo you bought becomes an ingredient in a delicious dish, it needs to be cleaned. How to do this correctly? First, get rid of the bitter membranous membranes on each slice, freeing the tender and sweet pulp. Essentially, it peels just like grapefruit. Follow your intuition and follow simple rules:

Contraindications

Pomelo is not recommended for use if the stomach has high acidity, so for those who have gastritis, gastric or duodenal ulcers, it would be better to avoid the fruit or eat it in moderate doses. The tropical fruit should be excluded from the diet for people suffering from serious kidney and liver diseases.

Warning: Like any citrus fruit, pomelo can cause an allergic reaction, and drinking juice with medications or alcohol can have side effects that increase or decrease the effect of the latter.

Young children should not be given fruit, and they should begin to get acquainted with it gradually, no earlier than 3–4 years old. The first piece should be no larger than a centimeter cube, and only if there is no allergic reaction, the portion can be slightly increased next time. It is better for pregnant and nursing mothers not to use pomelo, because the allergen can manifest itself on the fetus or defenseless infant.

Photo: © ivabalk (Free Pixabay License)

If your tongue is like a broom

If the tongue is like a broom
If the tongue is like a broom There are people who think nothing of blurting out something very offensive to a person.
A woman complains to her friend about her naughty child. Her friend calms her down. The first one says with a sigh: “Of course, it’s easy for you to say, you don’t have a child!” She said it without thinking, completely forgetting that her friend had been undergoing treatment for infertility for eight years to no avail. As a result, the person is upset and offended. Why do we so often “freeze” nonsense and what to do if you yourself have become the object of someone else’s tactlessness?

GREETINGS FROM GRANDFATHER FREUD

Most people, having blurted out something offensive, get very upset - after all, they did not intend to offend anyone at all. This happens mostly unconsciously. Sigmund Freud, the discoverer of the unconscious, believed that our mind suppresses the desire to tell a person everything we think about him. If irritation has accumulated, then such blunders are inevitable; they seem to roll off our tongues themselves, bypassing the mind, which would never allow the said tactlessness. Psychologists love to tell a not at all funny, but very apt joke. The husband at breakfast wanted to ask his wife to pass him the butter, but he thought about it and instead said: “You ruined my whole life!” Why did this happen? Because somewhere inside, in the subconscious, irritation, resentment, thoughts about time wasted in marriage with an unloved woman have accumulated. Therefore, if you feel that this is not the first time you have been tactless towards the same person, sort things out with him. This might tame your out of control tongue.

TANTRUM

Yes, there are such people: the truth is in your face, no matter how bitter it may be. This is characteristic of natures whose intellect and emotions are poorly coordinated with each other. Then, in a situation of anxiety, emotions begin to outweigh, the mind does not have time to control them, and hurtful words escape from the lips. Such people are prone to outbursts of anger, but quickly move away and often apologize: “Sorry, I got excited.” It is useless to be offended by them; they themselves are not happy with their statements, but in a state of passion they cannot help themselves. It's better not to argue with such people.

INAPPROPRIATE WIT

They made fun of you publicly, making fun of your shortcoming. You can't say anything, it turned out pretty funny. But you had no time to laugh, because you were shown in a dark light. Moreover, a person with whom you are on very good terms. Why did he need this? Calm down, it’s nothing personal, it’s not your problem. There are people who really like to stand out and show off their wit. Such people are ready to do anything just to maintain their own image of a witty person. If you become a victim of a joke, do not immediately take offense. And if you are offended, then do it in such a way that no one except the wit notices it. When he starts trying to reconcile, tell him that you don't like his desire to appear witty at your expense. Say these words and close the topic. Most likely he will switch to someone else.

HOW TO BEHAVE YOURSELF IF YOU BLURTED TOO MUCH

First, apologize. Sincerely and with feeling. Even if it doesn’t make it any easier for your offended interlocutor. Your feeling of guilt will smooth out the offense. Secondly, do not forget that everything you said can be reduced to a joke. Laugh at the situation yourself, and it will seem comical to your interlocutor. And never return to this conversation again, do not remember your mistakes and try to communicate with people openly and frankly.

Host of the strip Yulia Gurevich, psychologist

Growing at home

Pomelo reproduces by seeds and air layering. At home, the first option is used.

Pomelo from a seed

Seeds should be extracted from mature, high-quality fruits, or rather, from their lobules. When choosing seeds, be sure to ensure that they are not damaged or deformed. They need to be washed and dried, and then soaked in lukewarm water for 10–12 hours. Next, it is recommended to germinate the seeds, for which they should be wrapped in a damp cloth (cotton wool, sponge, sphagnum moss) and placed in a warm place for several days, periodically wetting the “cushion”. You can start planting them in the ground after the sprouts appear.

It is necessary to prepare a pot or container (necessarily - with drainage holes at the bottom!). The bottom layer (about 4–5 cm) may consist of expanded clay, crushed stone, crushed brick or pieces of foam. The main soil should contain humus, turf soil and sand. It is recommended to purchase the mixture at a flower shop.

Growing at home Photo: © James Steakley

The sprouted seeds should be placed in holes about 3 cm deep and sprinkled with earth. Stronger sprouts are transplanted using the transshipment method to avoid damage to the delicate roots. When the pomelo has entwined the entire soil layer with its root system, the citrus fruit will need to be moved to a larger container, following the process described above.

Advice Do not replant the plant at the moment of flowering and fruiting!

Regime and care

For good development of citrus fruit, warm conditions (up to +30–35 degrees) and relatively humid air in the range of 65–85% are suitable. During the cold season, the temperature should not fall below +12–15 degrees. When choosing a location, it is necessary to take into account that pomelo loves sunlight, but not direct rays, and does not tolerate proximity to heating devices.

The plant should be watered individually, avoiding drying out or waterlogging the soil. In this case, the water must be settled, melt or rain. Excessive zeal, as well as insufficient care of the pomelo, can cause harm and destroy the plant.

Flowers and buds Photo: © Daderot

Advice In summer, soil moisture should be monitored daily.

Citrus requires:

fertilizing - mineral and organic fertilizers are sold in stores and markets;
crown formation - you need to pinch the top when the side shoots are formed;
protection against pests - it is recommended to use biological preparations rather than pesticides;
spraying leaves - from a spray bottle 1-2 times a day in summer, once a week in winter and in the shower once a month;
additional lighting in winter - using a fluorescent lamp or LEDs with a warm color range.

Pomelo flowers can be expected in the third year of citrus life, but fruits are not always set. This can happen in a few years if the optimal development regime of the plant is observed, with proper care and pollination.

How to choose a pomelo

The advantage of the tropical fruit is its large size, which allows one fruit to feed the whole family at once. But you need to choose it skillfully, otherwise disappointment will not be long in coming.

You need to know that pomelo, depending on the variety, can have different shades - from soft green to yellow, light orange and even pinkish, so it is hardly worth not bothering to determine the ripeness of the fruit solely by the shade of its peel. We can only say with certainty that the white pulp will be sweeter, and the reddish pulp will be sour, but this again is not a criterion in choosing a citrus fruit, since none of the sellers will peel and cut the tropical fruit.

So, what should you pay attention to:

the color of the fruit should be uniform, without spots;
the aroma should not contain alcohol notes, the smell of a basement or mold;
the peel should be moderately dense, without damage, dents or compactions, and the stalk area should be elastic;
the hand must proportionally feel the weight of the fruit, otherwise it will not be as juicy as we would like;
Ask to open the fruit wrapped in film; it should not be sticky or too shiny.

How to store

Ripe pomelo should be kept in the refrigerator, but no more than 2–3 months, and if at room temperature (up to +20 degrees), then up to a month in a darkened corner. Citrus fruits must be separated from other fruits and vegetables, but not packaged, as they require oxygen.

It is not recommended to leave the fruit peeled, as the pulp dries out quickly. As a last resort, the slices can be wrapped in cling film or placed in a resealable plastic container, and then left in the refrigerator for 1–2 days, no longer. To preserve the aroma of the dried peel, it is recommended to store it in a glass jar under a tight lid.

Advice Pomelo cannot be frozen, since its structure and juiciness change dramatically at subzero temperatures. If you wish, you can put the juice poured into ice molds into the freezer, and send the finished cubes or figures into a deep container for further storage.

How to choose a pomelo

Supermarkets usually don’t have a very large selection of pomelo, so it’s better to go to the market. There you can find more varieties of fruit and, of course, at a lower price. And so, on the shelves you can see 2-3 varieties of pomelo:

Red pomelo looks like a grapefruit and has bright red flesh.
The orange pomelo is the ancestor of the orange.
And white, with a specific taste, unlike any other citrus.

On the outside, different types of pomelo are almost identical to each other; outwardly, they can only be distinguished by their packaging. White will be wrapped in cling film or mesh, and red in a special bag. The same cannot be said about the pulp; its color is quite specific for each variety of fruit.

The pomelo should be oval shaped with a small spout on top, this is the ideal fruit, but it is not so important and can vary. The taste of the fruit is not particularly dependent on the shape, and when choosing it is better to rely on other factors, such as hardness, elasticity, and weight. But still, the fruit should have a shiny sheen on the skin, similar to a film, such as on apples.

First of all, when choosing, you should try the product to the touch , it should be hard. It is worth paying attention to the elasticity of the peel. You can press on the shell, if fingerprints remain, it is better not to take such a fruit, most likely it is overripe.

If the pomelo is weighty and lies heavily in the hand, this is exactly what we are looking for , and if the fruit is light, almost weightless, it means there is little pulp and it will not be entirely sweet, while a heavy fruit usually has a very pleasant sugary taste. tastes and does not taste bitter like grapefruit.

When choosing, you can also be guided by smell . If the fruit is ripe, there is a lot of pulp in it, then it should smell aromatic, do not hesitate to smell the fruit in the store, this way you can save money and not waste money.

Important! The main signs of unripe pomelo are lightness, weightlessness, a greenish tint, lack of odor and a shiny film on the peel, as well as softness.

Hybrids

The exotic fruit itself is not a hybrid, a product of selection or genetic engineering, but it can be crossed. The following hybrids with pomelo are known:

pomelite, oroblanco, sweetie - with white grapefruit;
tangelo - with tangerine (a type of mandarin);
mandelos - with tangerine;
Pomeranian, Kinotto, Bigardia - with a mandarin hybrid;
hugonatsu - with yuzu.

The list of exotic names can be continued, but it would be better to remember the bitter grapefruit, familiar to us from childhood. In 1750, it was first described as a “forbidden fruit” by the British botanist Griffiths Huge. This citrus fruit received its modern name in 1814 thanks to Jamaican traders who compared fruit growing in clusters to grapes. What does grapefruit have to do with it if we are talking about pomelo? As it turns out, there is a direct connection between them.

Not long ago, a group of Chinese scientists published the results of genetic research showing that grapefruit is the result of a natural cross between a pomelo and a sweet orange, in other words, an accidental hybrid of the two. The orange, in turn, may itself be a hybrid of a pomelo and a tangerine.