Fruit of the Week - Grapefruit

The grapefruit is a subtropical citrus tree known for its bitter fruit, an 18th-century hybrid first bred in Barbados. When found, it was named the "forbidden fruit"; it has also been misidentified with the pomelo or shaddock (C. maxima), one of the parents of this hybrid, the other being sweet orange.

These evergreen trees are usually found at around 16–20 ft tall, although they can reach 43–49 ft. The leaves are dark green, long (up to 150 mm, 6 inches) and thin. It produces 5 cm (2 in) white four-petaled flowers. The fruit is yellow-orange skinned and largely an oblate spheroid; it ranges in diameter from 10–15 cm. The flesh is segmented and acidic, varying in color depending on the cultivars, which include white, pink and red pulps of varying sweetness. The 1929 US Ruby Red (of the Redblush variety) has the first grapefruit patent.

An early pioneer in the American citrus industry was Kimball Chase Atwood, a wealthy entrepreneur who founded the Atwood Grapefruit Co. in the late 1800s. The Atwood Grove became the largest grapefruit grove in the world, with an annual production of 80,000 boxes of fruit. It was there that pink grapefruit was first discovered in 1906.

The 1929 Ruby Red patent was associated with real commercial success, which came after the discovery of a red grapefruit growing on a pink variety. Only with the introduction of the Ruby Red did the grapefruit transform into a real agricultural success. The Red grapefruit, starting with the Ruby Red, has even become a symbolic fruit of Texas, where white "inferior" grapefruit were eliminated and only red grapefruit were grown for decades. Using radiation to trigger mutations, new varieties were developed to retain the red tones which typically faded to pink, the Rio Red variety is the current (2007) Texas grapefruit with registered trademarks Rio Star and Ruby-Sweet, also sometimes promoted as "Reddest" and "Texas Choice".

Grapefruit comes in many varieties, determinable by color, which is caused by the pigmentation of the fruit in respect of both its state of ripeness. The most popular varieties cultivated today are red, white, and pink hues, referring to the internal pulp color of the fruit. The family of flavors range from highly acidic and somewhat bitter to sweet and tart. Grapefruit mercaptan, a sulfur-containing terpene, is one of the substances which has a strong influence on the taste and odor of grapefruit, compared with other citrus fruits.


The fruit has become popular since the late 19th century; before that it was only grown as an ornamental plant. The United States quickly became a major producer of the fruit, with orchards in Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California. In Spanish, the fruit is known as toronja or pomelo.

Oven Baked Cinnamon Grapefruit

Ingredients
1 medium pink grapefruit
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener packets


Directions
1 Preheat oven to 400 °F.
2 Cut grapefruit in half. With small serrated knife, loosen segments. Use caution not to slice through skin.
3 Place halves with cut faces up, on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar substitute.
4 Bake 20 minutes, or until warmed through.
5 Transfer to serving plates. Let stand 5 minutes to cool before serving.

Nutrition Facts
Makes 2 servings
Serving Size: 1 each
Amount Per Serving
Calories     44.4
Total Carbs     11.3 g
Dietary Fiber     1.7 g
Sugars     8.9 g
Total Fat     0.1 g
Saturated Fat     0 g
Unsaturated Fat     0.1 g
Potassium     180.8 mg
Protein     0.8 g
Sodium     0.1 mg