The giant fruit pomelo was only developed in Israel in the 1970s. This new type of citrus with the very healthy and low-calorie fruits was created from a cross between grapefruit and grapefruit. Ripe pomelos taste rather sweet, but the white skins inside are rather bitter and tough. They should therefore be removed.
Pomelo - when ripe?
In the supermarket you can usually find large (pomelos often weigh around 500 grams, but can weigh up to a kilogram) fruits with a yellow or yellow-orange, smooth and shiny skin. Even if these pomelos look very tempting - it is better to choose the one with the rather dull and slightly wrinkled skin. Such fruits usually taste much sweeter. Incidentally, so-called "honey pomelos" mostly come from China and taste exactly like they are called: honey-sweet. If the pomelo tastes dry, it was already too old.
When will the fruit on my pomelo tree be ripe?
Unfortunately, the odds of you actually harvesting ripe (and edible) fruit from your pomelo tree are slim. Pomelos usually bloom between May and June, while the fruits only ripen from November and need a lot of warmth and sun for the ripening process. However, since it is naturally dark and cold here in winter, we do not have the necessary conditions for ripening fruit. If you really want to harvest citrus fruits, you'd better use lemons, tangerines or kumquats.
How to eat the pomelo?
As a rule, pomelos are eaten as fruit, but you can peel them like an orange.
- First remove the rind of the fruit.
- Disassemble the individual segments and pull off the tough skin.
- Alternatively, you can halve the fruit.
- Then use a knife to loosen the juice tubes from the walls of the segments.
- Now you can take them out with a spoon and eat them.
Pomelos (which, like all citrus fruits, also belong to the berries) are less juicy than other citrus fruits and are therefore rarely used to make fruit juice. The thick albedo, as the up to four centimeters thick, white layer between the peel and the pulp inside the fruit is called, is occasionally candied without the outer peel and used as a sweet or as an ingredient in dishes and pastries.
Pomelo Nutritional Values
The amount of healthy ingredients in a pomelo varies and can vary greatly depending on the size and ripeness of the fruit. 100 grams of pomelo contain on average:
- 45 calories
- 10 grams of carbohydrates
- 0.8 grams of protein
- 41 milligrams of vitamin C
- Potassium, Calcium and Magnesium
100 grams of the sweet-bitter honey pomelo, on the other hand, have the following values:
- 32 calories
- 12 grams of carbohydrates
- 0.7 grams of protein
- 0.6 grams of fat
Pomelos are therefore very low in calories and are therefore ideal for a tasty and healthy snack. The fruit also tastes very refreshing in an exotic fruit salad.
tips and tricks
The pomelo also harmonizes very well with rather hearty dishes. You can combine the fruit with a mixture of fresh leaf salads and strips of roasted beef or chicken breast fillet. Serve with a light yoghurt dressing or a vinaigrette made from olive oil and orange juice.
IJA