Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
19
Grapefruit
I. A. Jideani, T. Takalani, V. A. Jideani and Muhammad Siddiq
INTRODUCTION
Grapefruit ( Citrus paradise Macfad.) is among five com-
mercially important fruit crops recognized as a single specie
within the Citrus genus, the other four being sweet orange,
tangerine, lemon, and lime (Fig. 19.1); the cultivars are
subdivided into groups based on fruit charactersitics.
Citrus, genus of flowering plants, belongs to the Rutacea,
subfamily Aurantaoideae, originating in tropical and sub-
tropical southeast regions of the world. Researchers believe
that citrus fruits began to appear in southeast Asia around
4000 BC, from there they slowly spread to northern Africa,
mainly through migration and trade (Webber, 1967).
All citrus is thought to originate in the Himalayan re-
gion of southwestern China and northern India. Citrus be-
came commercialized in the Americas in the late 1800s.
Brazil has become the dominant market leader in citrus
concentrate. Orange production exceeds the production of
all other citrus fruits (Bates et al., 2010). This chapter fo-
cuses on the production, postharvest physiology, storage,
processing, and nutrition of grapefruit.
Grapefruit production is better suited for tropical
climates, hence its production is scattered among countries
near the equator in Latin America, Africa, and Asia
(Spreen, 2001). The total world grapefruit production in
2009 was 6.565 MMT, an increase of 61.11% from 1990
figure of 4.075 MMT (Table 19.1). China was the top
producer of grapefruits with 2.768 MMT (42.17% of the
total world production), followed by the United States
and Mexico, with 1.183 MMT (18.02%) and 0.395 MMT
(6.02%), respectively. The regional grapefruit production
data is summarized in Table 19.2, which shows that since
1990, grapefruit production in Africa has seen about a 80%
increase (from 364.0 to 656.8 thousand metric tons). The
leading grapefruits and juice concentrate exporting and
importing countries are listed in Table 19.3. South Africa,
the United States, and Turkey led raw grapefruit exporters,
while the Netherlands, the United States, and South Africa
were the top grapefruit juice concentrate exporters. The ma-
jor importers of these products included Japan, the Nether-
lands, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and
France.
World production areas/countries
Citrus fruits are produced all over the world. The total pro-
duction and consumption of citrus fruit has grown strongly
since the 1980s. Citrus is the largest fruit crop in the world,
with 2009 production reported as 116.638 million metric
tons (MMT). Figure 19.2 lists the leading producer coun-
tries of citrus fruits. With the exception of the USA, where it
constitutes about 60% of total citrus group fruits produced,
grapefruit is a relatively small contributor to many other
leading countries' total citrus production (FAO, 2011).
PRODUCTION, VARIETIES, AND
HARVESTING
Countries in the Northern Hemisphere harvest their grape-
fruits between December and April, while countries in the
Southern Hemisphere harvest between June and August
(Lee, 2007). In the United States, named varieties of grape-
fruit appeared in the official list of the American Pomolog-
ical Society as early as 1897 (Morton, 1987).
Search WWH ::




Custom Search