The Mighty Grapefruit

I had the pleasure this year of eating my very first Ruby Red Grapefruit that I grew. It was fantastic. They say its first year or two the fruit won't be that good, if that is the case, next year will be even better. I also got to try a friends Flame Grapefruit. Also fantastic. I got some seeds from the Flame and have two very nice healthy looking trees coming along. It will be some years before I get fruit from them, (probably 7-10), I am a patient man. After reading the health benefits of Grapefruit, I may have to get a few more trees. Maybe get a Marsh Seedless or a Blush Pink. There are a bunch of different varieties out there.
While researching for this article I found some very interesting information.

Grapefruit: Citrus paradisi
Red grapefruits are suppose to be sweeter then white grapefruits. I like mine with some sugar so it really doesn't matter to me that much. I also enjoy sour gummy worms if that tells you anything.
Grapefruit are hand-picked, no mechanical harvesting is used.
Grapefruit trees can produce for 30-40 years.
The grapefruit we know today was developed in the West Indies in the early 1700s and first introduced to Florida in the 1820s.
Some mature grapefruit trees can yield up to 1500 pounds of fruit in a season. The average yield is 350 pounds.

Now, I am not a dietician and I am not suggesting any of this is fact, but this is some other stuff I found online. Take it for what it's worth.
Grapefruit are loaded with vitamin C. In fact, half of one grapefruit or an 8-ounce glass of grapefruit juice provides at least 100% of the Daily Value for vitamin C.
Vitamin C is essential for the production of collagen, a protein that gives structure to bones, cartilage, muscle and blood vessels, and can help support tissue repair, wound and bone healing, and healthy skin.
Vitamin C can help increase iron absorption. Iron deficiency is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies worldwide.
Another one of the many health benefits of grapefruit is that it aids in weight loss. Grapefruit is low in sodium, high in fat burning enzymes and has a high water content. All these things combined speed up the metabolism.
Grapefruit also has the benefit of lowering cholesterol. A study done in Israel and published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that the antioxidants in grapefruit, especially red grapefruit, may help lower cholesterol.
In folk medicine grapefruit is believed to have the health benefits of improving one’s complexion, treating colds, fever and pneumonia, boosting the liver, breaking up gallstones and promoting a better digestion and immunity.
There are some negatives associated with Grapefruit however. Grapefruit can have negative side effects on certain medications. I am not a science researcher but I found this about the interactions on www.powernetdesign.com
Chemical compounds in Grapefruit Juice are known to inhibit an enzyme system found in the small intestine that metabolizes some drugs prior to absorption into the bloodstream. Drugs that are affected by this interaction are metabolized less than usual when they are taken with Grapefruit Juice, allowing a higher amount to reach the bloodstream, and this will cause higher drug levels.
I had always heard that certain drugs interact with Grapefruit, but never really knew why. If I am understanding this, apparently it causes the drug to be more potent, possibly causing an overdose situation. Definitely could be a bad thing.
So,if you are not taking medications that interact with Grapefruit, and you enjoy the taste, why not grow some of your own? Grapefruit can be grown just like all the other Citrus, look through some of my older posts as to how you would like to grow your own.
Tomorrows post will be the best places online (I think) to order Citrus trees.
See you then!
Happy Growing!
Darren