How to eat pomelo: peeling & preparing Citrus maxima

Ever wondered how to eat pomelo? It may seem daunting at first, but peeling and eating a pomelo is easy. Read on to learn how to peel and eat these large citrus fruits.

Oranges, lemons and grapefruits may be a somewhat regular part of your diet, but would you know how to eat a pomelo? Pomelos are essentially the ancestors of several of the citrus fruits we know and love. Read on to learn how to eat pomelos and find out a little more about these wonderful, zesty fruits.

What are pomelos?

The pomelo (Citrus maxima), also spelled pummelo, pamplemousse or shaddock, is truly a unique fruit. Pomelos stand out in supermarkets because of their size, light colours and round or pear-shaped form which distinguish them from other citrus fruits. As the botanical name, Citrus maxima, suggests, pomelos are actually the largest of all citrus fruits, measuring up to 30cm in diameter. One of the original citrus species, the pomelo has been involved in many hybrid citrus origin stories. For instance, sweet and bitter oranges (Citrus × sinensis and Citrus × aurantium) are the result of crossing pomelos with mandarins (Citrus reticulata). And crossing sweet oranges with pomelos gave rise to the grapefruit (Citrus paradisi). The greatest quality of pomelos is their exceptional flavour. Compared to the bitterness of grapefruits, pomelos have a milder, fruity-sweet flavour similar to that of mandarins or sweet oranges.

This citrus fruit has been around for a long time, but the pomelos we see today in markets are a fairly new cultivar that was first bred in Israel in the early 1970s. Not long after, the same cultivars were also created in China and Southeast Asia. From there, it did not take long for this new fruit to reach the European market. That said, to this day, these fruits are mainly grown in Israel, China, Southeast Asia and South Africa.

How to peel a pomelo

Because of the thick rinds, many people are unsure how to go about peeling, cutting and eating pomelos. Here is how to best enjoy the tasty king of citrus fruits:

1. Use a knife to make an incision in the fruit’s rind. Do not cut too deep, as you want to avoid cutting into the flesh of the fruit.
2. Using your fingers, peel away the entire outer rind of the pomelo. After you finish this step, the pomelo will be left with a white layer called the pith.
3. Split the pomelo in half by inserting your thumbs into the opening at the top and pulling the fruit apart.
4. From here, you can easily pull apart the pomelo’s fruit segments and remove any excess pith.

Tip: making a shallow cut around the entire circumference of the pomelo allows you to carefully remove the rind so that the two rind halves stay intact. You can then use these as decorative bowls for serving bite-sized pieces of the pomelo.

Pomelo health benefits

Pomelos are remarkable, not only in size, but for your health too. Just like other citrus fruits, pomelos are one of the many fruits rich in vitamin C. They also offer limonin, which is a bitter substance, and plenty of fibre, both of which aid digestion. On top of that, they contain potassium, magnesium and phosphorus. And at just 25 to 50kcal per 100g, pomelos are also low in calories compared to some other fruits. This makes them especially valued by people watching their daily calorie intake, along with grapefruit. All in all, pomelos are very healthy and a great alternative to oranges and grapefruit if you want to switch things up a bit.

Caution: despite all of the nutritional benefits of pomelos, people who take medication for high blood pressure should avoid eating too much of it. This is because, similarly to grapefruit, it can interfere with how your body metabolises drugs.

What can I do with pomelos?

Now that you know how to eat pomelo and how good they are for you, consider introducing them to your diet. There are many ways to enjoy a pomelo, including adding it to fruit salads, muesli, porridge or yoghurt. You can also try using pomelo in heartier dishes. In Asian cuisine, for example, it is not uncommon to include pomelo as a fruity note in vegetable dishes. Pomelo salad is also a popular dish worth trying.

Tip: pomelos pair well with fresh mint leaves. Try using these two ingredients to make homemade minty pomelo lemonade!