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Grapefruit

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GRAPEFRUIT (Citrus decumana), the globular or some what flattened fruit of a tree closely related to the orange and lemon (qq.v.). The pear-shaped varieties of this fruit are known as shaddocks. The grapefruit often grows in bunches (whence the name) and the individual fruits are usually from 4 in. to 6 in. in diameter. The rind is yellow, the pulp, which has an acid, slightly bitter flavour, resembles that of a lemon in appear ance. It is cultivated in the West Indies and the United States, where it has long been used as a breakfast and dessert fruit, but more and more extensively since about 1900, when its cultivation was introduced into Florida and California. More recently it has become increasingly consumed in Europe; in the United Kingdom between 192o and 1924 imports multiplied sixfold. Florida is the principal source, its annual production for the ten-year period 1927-36 averaging I 2,194,00o boxes of about 8olb. each. In 1938 the crop in Florida was estimated at 21,000,000 boxes. Texas ranked second in 1938 with an estimated i 5,000,000 boxes, fol lowed by Arizona and California. The United Kingdom also im ports the fruit from British dominions, chiefly the West Indies and South Africa.

For the cultivation of this fruit,

see FRUIT FARMING.

fruit and florida