Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi); grapefruit
An evergreen tree of the citrus genus of the root family, up to 15 m tall. It has a compact, well-leafed crown. The leaves are large, leathery, elongated, blunt or pointed, with winged petioles. The flowers are white, in bunches of 3-20 or single in the axils of the leaves. The fruits are berry-like, yellow, flattened-globose, up to 15 cm in diameter, single or in clusters, with juicy, large-grained, fragrant pulp of yellow or grayish-green, sometimes pink color. Blooms in May. Fruits ripen in November – December.
Distribution . Grapefruit is unknown in the wild. On the territory of the former USSR, it is grown in subtropical regions.
Raw. Fruits are consumed (fresh or canned), they are well stored fresh.
Chemical composition . Fruits contain (per 100 g of edible product): protein —0.7—0.9 g; fat – 0.2-0.5 g; carbohydrates – 9.8-10.6 g; fiber – 0.3-0.5 g; minerals – sodium – 2.0 mg, potassium – 181.0 mg, calcium – 2.0-20.0 mg, iron – 0.25-0.30 mg, phosphorus – 15.0-17.0 mg , magnesium — 6.0 mg; citric acid – 5.3 g; (p-carotene – 0.02 g; thiamine – 0.037-0.053 mg; riboflavin – 0.031-0.045 mg; pyridoxine – 0.045 mg, nicotinamide – 0.23-0.30 mg; ascorbic acid – 45.0 mg (in the peel — 265.0 mg). For the juice, these indicators are somewhat lower. Slight bitterness is due to the presence of the glycoside naringin. Varieties with pink pulp have this color not from anthocyanins, but from plastid pigments (carotene and lycopene). Calorie content of 100 g of pulp – 30-40 kcal.
Pharmacological properties and use . Grapefruit fruits have antisclerotic and tonic properties, stimulate appetite, improve digestion, and increase diuresis. They are recommended to be used in dietary nutrition, with hypokinesia, vitamin deficiencies, with some diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, after exhausting infectious diseases and operations, with physical and mental fatigue, in case of chronic intoxication, hypertension and urate urolithiasis, with elevated body temperature and after myocardial infarction. Grapefruits are used fresh and processed (juice, jam, compotes, etc.). It is contraindicated to use grapefruits with a significant increase in the acidity of gastric juice.
Medicinal forms and applications.
Internally – 150-300 g of fresh grapefruit juice three times a day before meals, sweetened to taste with honey or sugar ( do not sweeten for diabetics! ).