Fruit and Nut Trees

by steve stamos

The pummelo is an ancestor of the common grapefruit. The tree may grow to be 5 to 15 tall, with trunk 10-30 cm thick and irregular branches. The leaves are mostly ovate 5-20 cm long and 2-10 cm wide, leathery and green, glossy above, dull and hairy underneath. The flowers are fragrant, yellowish-white borne usually in clusters of 2 to 10 with 4 to 5 petals. The tree produces large, yellow when ripe, citrus fruit.

The pummelo is native to southeastern Asia and of Malaysia has never been cultivated to any great extent in other parts of the world. Generally, it is casually grown there as a specimen of curiosity in private gardens. It is a near-tropical tree that flourishes naturally at low altitudes close to the sea. It is frost hardy, but grows best in warmer climates with lots of rainfall and flood plains. It is highly tolerant of brackish water

Propagation is by seeds. The seeds can be stored for three months at 5º C and 55 to 60% humidity before they are plant out. Seedlings differ little from their parents. The pummelo trees are spaced about 3 to 5 m apart. Among the insect pests of pummelo are a leaf miner and scale insects

Pummelos can flower up to four times a year with four harvesting seasons and with the main crop in November. It is said that fruits that ripen at other seasons have fewer seeds and superior taste and flavor. Fruits picked when just beginning to turn yellow. They keep for long periods and approximately after three months, the peel will be deeply wrinkled but the pulp will be juicier and with more appealing flavor than in the fresh fruit. Pammelos are an excellent source of the vitamin C

It is worth the effort to peel a pummelo, remove the skin from the segments, and eat the juicy pulp. Skinned segments can be used in salads and desserts or made into preserves. The juice makes an excellent beverage and the peel can be candied. The peel contains skin irritants which can cause dermatitis having excessive contact with the oil of the outer peel.

The flowers been highly aromatic are gathered for making perfume. In the Southeast Asia, decoctions of the leaves, flowers, and the rind are given for their sedative effect on epilepsy.

Pummelo

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