Ingredient Information

Grapefruit

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Medical Conditions

  • HEART CONDITION

Function

Grapefruits are usually eaten fresh by peeling the fruit by hand or by cutting the fruit laterally. Grapefruits add a tangy taste to vegetable salads and make a distinctive salsa if combined with chili peppers and cilantro. Grapefruits can also be juiced similarly to the common orange fruit. Grapefruit juice can be dehydrated into powder, concentrated, frozen, and if cautiously fermented, becomes a good source of vinegar. In Latin America, grapefruits are usually cooked to rid them of their sourness and are stuffed with dulce de leche, making a toronja rellena dessert (stuffed grapefruit). They can also be served as an appetizer by lightly broiling and topping with cherries. Commercially, they are processed as marmalades, gelatins and puddings. Pectin is a chemical found in grapefruit and is used in preserving other fruits. When the peel oil of grapefruits is distilled, it becomes an excellent soft-drink flavoring. A bitter substance called naringin is found in the inner grapefruit peel and is used in making tonic beverages, frozen delights, and bitter chocolate.

Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi), Shaddock, Pamplemousse, Paradisapfel, Toronja

Other Use and Industries

Certain chemicals from the seeds of grapefruits can be extracted and be used as fragrances for cosmetics, toiletries, and household cleaners. Agriculturally, grapefruit seed extract is used for stopping mold and fungus growth on animal feeds and for disinfecting water. Seed hulls are used for conditioning the soil. Molasses, which is generated from the waste from grapefruit packing plants and is used as food for cattle, has long been in use by farmers. Grapefruit leaves and flowers also are useful. They are known to hamper insomnia and display antibiotic activity.

Health Effects

Grapefruit is an abundant source of vitamin C, which has been proven to help stop free radical damage, thereby treating medical conditions such as osteoarthritis and asthma, and promoting cardiovascular health. Lycopene, not only found in tomatoes but also in pink grapefruits, is capable of displaying anti-cancer properties in the prostate, cervix, rectum, breast, colon, pancreas, and esophagus. Other studies have indicated that it is a cure for skin diseases like psoriasis and eczema. During the 1930s the “grapefruit diet” gained fame. The concept of the diet comes from the substances found in grapefruits that, when consumed with protein, encourage the burning of body fat. Another antioxidant called spermidine, which is essential to cell growth and cell maturation, is found in large quantities in grapefruit. A project involving mice on a strict grapefruit diet resulted in a slower aging process. Grapefruit seed extract is taken orally for bacterial infections and can be applied externally as an astringent, a vaginal douche, a hair growth stimulant, a mouthwash for preventing gingivitis, and as an ear and nasal rinse against infections.

A thorough set of studies have suggested negative food–drug interactions between grapefruit and certain medications. These are drugs which have a verified harmful reaction to grapefruit ingestion:
• Amiodarone (Cordarone)
• Amitriptyline (Elavil)
• Artemether (Artenam, Paluther)
• Atorvastatin (Lipitor)
• Buspirone (BuSpar)
• Caffeine
• Carbamazepine (Tegretol)
• Carisoprodol (Soma)
• Carvedilol (Coreg)
• celecoxib (Celebrex)
• Cisapride (Propulsid)
• Clomipramine (Anafranil)
• Clonazepam (Klonopin),
• Cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune)
• Cytochrome P450 1A2
• Dextromethorphan (Robitussin DM, and others)
• Diazepam (Valium)
• Diclofenac (Cataflam, Voltaren)
• Erythromycin
• Estrogen
• Etoposide (VePesid)
• Fexofenadine (Allegra)
• Glipizide (Glucotrol);
• Ibuprofen (Motrin),
• Indinavir (Crixivan)
• Itraconazole (Sporanox)
• Lansoprazole (Prevacid)
• Lorazepam (Ativan)
• Lovastatin (Mevacor)
• Losartan (Cozaar)
• Meloxicam (Mobic),
• Methylprednisolone
• Nelfinavir (Viracept)
• Nifedipine (Procardia)
• Nimodipine (Nimotop)
• Nisoldipine (Sular)
• Omeprazole (Prilosec)
• Pantoprazole (Protonix)
• Piroxicam (Feldene)
• Praziquantel (Biltricide)
• Quinidine interacts
• Saquinavir (Invirase)
• Sedative medications (Benzodiazepines)
• Sertraline (Zoloft)
• Scopolamine (Transderm Scop)
• Sildenafil (Viagra)
• Sirolimus (Rapamune)
• Simvastatin (Zocor)
• Tacrolimus (Prograf)
• Terfenadine (Seldane)
• Theophylline
• Warfarin (Coumadin)

Origins

Compared to other citrus plants, the grapefruit is fairly easy to grow. All one needs are seeds from a previous grapefruit. The most amiable climate for growing grapefruit trees is the subtropical climate. The humid and warm atmosphere hastens the fruit’s ripening and makes the fruit relatively sweeter as compared when it is grown in other climates. Snow and sub-freezing temperatures destroy grapefruit trees and their fruit. The tree takes up approximately 40 inches of rainfall per year. Harvesting season is from October to May. Less delicate varieties of grapefruit are mechanically collected while the more fragile ones are handpicked. If they are machine-harvested, the grapefruit trees need to be specially trimmed to avoid bruising the fruits.

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