The grapefruit is a large, tart and tangy citrus fruit thought to be the result of a natural cross between the orange, lemon, and pomelo. Grapefruit categories are white (blond), pink and ruby. These category names are a reflection of the internal flesh color rather than the skin or rind color. They range from four to six inches in diameter and include both seeded and seedless varieties.

The first grapefruits are thought to be a cross between the Jamaican sweet orange and the Indonesian pomelo, perhaps as a result of a "Captain Shaddock" bringing pomelo seeds to Jamaica. Thus, the grapefruit was known as the shaddock or shattuck until the 1800's. Its current name alludes to clusters of the fruit on the tree, which often appear similar to grapes.

With the introduction of the Ruby Red variety, the grapefruit transformed into a real agricultural success. The Red grapefruit, starting with the Rio Red, has even become a symbolic fruit of Texas, where white "inferior" grapefruit were eliminated and only red grapefruit were grown for decades.

Grapefruit is an excellent source of many nutrients and phytochemicals that contribute to a healthy diet. Grapefruit is a good source of vitamin C, contains the fiber pectin, and the pink and red hues contain the beneficial carotene antioxidant lycopene.

Encore Fruit Marketing can provide an excellent source of grapefruit juice to help consumer products deliver one of the 5 A Day vegetable servings.

Grapefruit juice is carefully processed from fresh, ripened grapefruit to provide the essential nutrition, flavor and color, in a convenient, ready to use ingredient form for processed beverage and food applications. Grapefruit juice is an excellent ingredient to add a fruit serving to your retail label for beverages, dairy products, desserts, sauces, jellies and other processed foods like nutrition bars and snacks.

Contact Encore Fruit Marketing today for product samples and information on grapefruit juice at www.encorefruit.com or Click Here to use our convenient Contact Form.