Energizing and tasty fruit -grapefruit is found to be rich in phytonutrients such as vitamin-A, lycopene, and β-carotene. This is the fruit which is popular as "fruit of the paradise" due to its excellent health-promoting and illness preventing properties. The constituents present in the grapefruit facilitate Healthy benefits to a person. The scientific name of Grapefruit is Citrus paradisi.
Grapefruit is recognized as an evergreen, medium-sized tree which is cultivated for its fruit. The fruits grow up to 15 meters in terms of height and possess several yellow-orange colored fruits in clusters during every season. The fruit is actually a natural hybridization of orange and pomelo. It is found that grapefruit is essentially oblate in shape, varies in diameter from 3 to 5 inches and possess weight of around 150 g. The fruit has thick and tough skin as compared to the skin of oranges. Inside it, arils are ordered in pieces as found in several other citrus fruits. The fruit’s arils are juicy, acidic, and they vary in color based on the cultivars, which can be pink, white, and red of altering sweetness.
Health Benefits of Grapefruit
- The grapefruit is known to be extremely low in calories, comprising of only 42 calories per 100 g. However; the fruit is very rich in dietary insoluble fiber pectin, the component which functions in the form of bulk laxative. Moreover, dietary fiber aids, to secure the colon mucosa by reducing exposure time to contaminated substances inside the colon and also linking to cancer-causing chemicals present in the colon.
- The fruit comes with many Personal health benefits as it contains healthy levels of vitamin-A, along with flavonoid antioxidants like naringin, and naringenin. Furthermore, it is an average source of β-carotene, lycopene, lutein, and xanthin. Studies carried out indicate that such compounds own antioxidant properties as well as they are beneficial for vision.
- The red variety of the grapefruits is found to be rich in strong flavonoid antioxidant, lycopene. Also, some studies indicate that lycopene guard skin from hazardous UV rays, and provide security against prostate cancer.
- Grapefruit is a rich source of the antioxidant vitamin C. Vitamin C helps our body to gain resistance against many infections as well as the many free radicals that are harmful. It is extremely essential for maintaining the connective tissues and also helps in the healing of wounds. Vitamin C helps in absorbing iron that reaches the intestine.
- Grapefruit is full of vitamin A that is essential for the maintenance of a healthy skin and mucosa. Consuming fruits such as grapefruit that are rich in Vitamin A helps in protecting the body from oral cancer as well as lung cancer.
- Grapefruit contains good level of B-complex set of vitamins like thiamin, riboflavin, folates and pyridoxine. It also contains phosphorus, iron, copper and calcium that are extremely essential for the body.
Selection and storage
The season of Grapefruit starts from September and continues till December. Fresh grapefruits can be easily available the entire year in the supermarkets in the USA.
While purchasing from the stores, purchase fresh fruits with bright skin, and the one which can withstand the soft pressure but recoil instantly. The fruit must not have wrinkles on its skin, must be heavy for their size as well as convey sweet aroma. One needs to avoid overly soft fruits with spots because they usually perish prematurely.
When kept At home, you need to keep the fruits at room temperature for several days. In extensive storage, put the fruit in the fruit/vegetable section of the home fridge where the fruits can stay fresh for up to three weeks.
Preparation and serving method
One of the recommended Health tips is to wash Grapefruits under cool water prior eating to discard any dust or pesticide residues.
Below are some serving tips:
- In order to stay healthy, fruit sections are considered as an excellent addition to fruit salads and green salads.
- It can be used in the preparation of jams, desserts, jellies, and marmalade.
Safety Profile
As per several studies, certain drugs react with grapefruit. The furanocoumarins in grapefruit decreases the regular metabolism. It could thus increase the blood pressure level. Hence some drugs might have bad effects on the body as they increase become toxic to the body. It is advisable to avoid consuming grapefruit juice or the fruit itself when you are following any kind of medical treatment.
