Pomelo (Citrus maxima)

Pomelo (Citrus maxima) is a plant species in the Rutaceae family. It is a small to medium-sized tree, reaching a height of 5–15 meters, with a trunk that is often crooked and 10–30 cm in diameter, featuring low-hanging, irregular branches.

The leaf stalks have distinct wings. The leaves are arranged alternately and are ovate or elliptical in shape, measuring 5–20 cm in length; they have a leathery texture, appearing dull green on the upper surface and pubescent (hairy) on the underside. The flowers, which may appear singly or in clusters, are fragrant and yellowish-white in color.

C. maxima fruit is round, with a diameter of 10–30 cm and a weight ranging from 0.26 to 1.95 kg. It has a thick rind, and the interior is divided into 11–18 segments. The flesh is not overly acidic. There are at least sixty cultivars of this species. The fruit typically contains a few large seeds, though some cultivars may have many seeds.

The complete genome of this species was published in 2026. The haplotypes span 344 Mb and 343 Mb, with each assembled into nine chromosomes. These assemblies achieved BUSCO completeness scores of 99.36% and 99.66%, respectively, and contain 27,417 and 27,414 predicted protein-coding genes.

The flesh and juice are consumed, while the rind is often processed into candied fruit. The fruit is eaten as a dessert or used in salads. The white portion of the rind (the albedo) can be slow-cooked to create a dish that is high in fiber and low in fat.

A 100-gram serving of the fruit contains 60 mg of vitamin C and 40 calories. Also fiber, B vitamins (niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, folate, pyridoxine), complex carbohydrates, sugars, proteins, minerals (potassium, phosphorus, copper, iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, and zinc), and antioxidants (flavonoids, lycopene).

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Subfamily: Aurantioideae
Genus: Citrus L. in Sp. Pl.: 782 (1753)
Species: Citrus maxima (Burm.) Merr. in Interpr. Herb. Amboin.: 296 (1917)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Aurantium maximum Burm. in Auctuarium, sign. Z: 1, verso (1755)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Aurantium decumana (L.) Mill. in Gard. Dict., ed. 8.: n.° 4 (1768)
Citrus × aurantium var. decumana L. in Sp. Pl., ed. 2.: 1101 (1763)
Citrus × aurantium var. grandis L. in Sp. Pl.: 783 (1753)
Citrus × aurantium f. grandis (L.) M.Hiroe in Forest Pl. Hist. Jap. Islands 1: 223 (1974)
Citrus costata Raf. in Sylva Tellur.: 142 (1838)
Citrus decumana L. in Syst. Nat., ed. 12. 2: 508 (1767)
Citrus grandis (L.) Osbeck in Dagb. Ostind. Resa: 98 (1757)
Citrus grandis f. buntan Hayata in Icon. Pl. Formosan. 8: 17 (1919)
Citrus grandis var. oblonga Hassk. in Flora 25(2, Beibl. 3): 44 (1842)
Citrus grandis var. sabon (Siebold) Karaya in Sborn. Nauchn. Trudov Prikl. Bot. Genet. Selekts. 112: 65 (1987)
Citrus grandis var. sphaerocarpos Hassk. in Flora 25(2, Beibl. 3): 44 (1842)
Citrus grandis var. yamabuki (Yu.Tanaka) Karaya in Sborn. Nauchn. Trudov Prikl. Bot. Genet. Selekts. 112: 65 (1987)
Citrus obovoidea Takahashi in Kankitsu: 84 (1931)
Citrus pampelmos Risso in Hist. Nat. Prod. Eur. Mérid. 1: 412 (1826)
Citrus pompelmos Risso in Fl. Nice: 83 (1844)
Citrus sabon Siebold ex Hayata in Icon. Pl. Formosan. 8: 18 (1919)
Citrus yamabuki Yu.Tanaka in Icon. Jap. Citrus Fruits 1: 224 (1946)
Sarcodactilis helicteroides C.F.Gaertn. in Suppl. Carp.: 39 (1805)

PUBLICATIONS

Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (eds.) (2006). Flore Analytique du Bénin: 1-1034. Backhuys Publishers.

Baksh-Comeau, Y., Maharaj, S.S., Adams, C.D., Harris, S.A., Filer, D.L. & Hawthorne, W.D. (2016). An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago with analysis of vegetation types and botanical 'hotspots'. Phytotaxa 250: 1-431.

Balkrishna, A. (2018). Flora of Morni Hills (Research & Possibilities): 1-581. Divya Yoga Mandir Trust.

Choudhary, R.K., Srivastava, R.C., Das, A.K. & Lee, J. (2012). Floristic diversity assessment and vegetation analysis of Upper Siang district of eastern Himalaya in North East India. Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy 42: 222-246.

George, A.S., Orchard, A.E. & Hewson, H.J. (eds.) (1993). Oceanic islands 2. Flora of Australia 50: 1-606. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Girmansyah, D. & al. (eds.) (2013). Flora of Bali an annotated checklist: 1-158. Herbarium Bogorensis, Indonesia.

Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.

Grierson, A.J.C. & Long, D.G. (2001). Flora of Bhutan 2: 1-1675. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.

Huang, C. in Ling, Y. Et Ge, X. (1997). Rutaceae. Flora Reiublicae Popularis Sinicae 43(2): 1-250. Science Press.

Jaramillo Díaz, P. & Guézou, A. (2017). CDF Checklist of Galapagos Vascular Plants - FCD Lista de especies de Plantas Vasculares de Galápagos http://www.darwinfoundation.org/datazone/checklists/vascular-plants.

Jones, M. (1991). A checklist of Gambian plants: 1-33. Michael Jones, The Gambia College.

Jørgensen, P.M., Nee, M.H. & Beck., S.G. (eds.) (2013). Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 127: 1-1741. Missouri Botanical Garden.

Lejoy, J., Ndjele, M.-B. & Geerinck, D. (2010). Catalogue-flore des plantes vasculaires des districts de Kisangani et de la Tshopo (RD Congo). Taxonomania 30: 1-307.

Mabberley, D.J. (2022). A classification for edible citrus: an update, with a note on Murraya (Rutaceae). Telopea 25: 271-284.

Mao, A.A., Sinha, B.K., Verma, D. & Sarma, N. (2016). Check-List of Flora of Meghalaya: 1-273. Meghalaya Biodiversity Board, Shillong.

Newman, M., Ketphanh, S., Svengsuksa, B., Thomas, P., Sengdala, K., Lamxay, V. & Armstrong, K. (2007). A checklist of the vascular plants of Lao PDR: 1-394. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.

Pandey, R.P. & Dilwakar, P.G. (2008). An integrated check-list flora of Andaman and Nicobar islands, India. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 32: 403-500.

Plunkett, G.M., Ranker, T.A., Sam, C. & Balick, M.J. (2022). Towards a checklist of the vascular flora of Vanuatu. Candollea 77: 105-118.

Smith, A.C. (1985). Flora Vitiensis Nova. A new flora for Fiji (Spermatophytes only) 3: 1-758. Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai.

Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2008). Flora of China 11: 1-622. Science Press (Beijing) & Missouri Botanical Garden Press (St. Louis).

Yamaji, H., Kondo, K., Kuniga, T., Nesumi, H., Yoshida, T., Hashimoto, K. & Takeda, O. (2013). Origin of cultivated Citrus (Rutaceae) documented by the contents of internal transcribed spacer sequences (ITS) in nuclear ribosomal DNA. The Journal of Japanese Botany 88: 222-238.

VERNACULAR NAME

Angami: Huolo, Pfulo
Arabic: بوملي - ليمون كبير
Assamese: Robab Tenga
Bengali: বাতাবি লেবু - চোলাঙ্গা - জাম্বুরা লেবু Batabi Lebu, Cholanga, Jambura Lebu
Bunun: Izukdaing
Burmese: ရှုခ်-တွန်-အို Shouk-ton-oh
Chinese (simplified): 柚子
Chinese (traditional): 柚子
Czech: Pomelo
Dutch: Pompelmoes
English: Pomelo, Pommelo, Pummelo, pummelo, shaddock
Estonian: Pomelipuu
Filipino: Lukban, Suha
Finnish: Pomelo
French: pamplemoussier
German: Pampelmuse, Pumelo
Guangdong: 柚子
Gujarati: પપનસ Papanas
Hebrew: פומלה
Hindi: Batawi-nimbu, Chakotara, Papar-mas
Hong Kong: 柚子
Indonesian: Jeruk bali, Jeruk besar
Italian: Pampaleone, Pomelo, Pummelo
Japanese: ウチムラサキ - ザボン - ブンタン - ボンタン
Java: Jeruk bali
Kannada: Chakota Hannu
Khmer: ក្រច ថ្លុង Krôoch thlông
Konkani: Toranda
Korean: 당유자나무
Lao: ກຽງຊ໌ ສ'ອາງຊ໌ - ພູກ - ສົມຊ໌ ອູ Kièngz s'aangz, Ph'uk, Sômz 'ôô
Macao: 柚子
Malayalam: Kampilinaranna
Malaysia: Jambua, Limau betawi, Limau bali
Manipuri: Nobab
Marathi: Bampara, Chakotra, Papanas
Mizo: Kamalo, Sertawk
Oriya: Batapi
Palauan: Malechianged, Meradel, Siabong
PNG: Muli
Polish: Pomarańcza olbrzymia, Pomelo
Russian: Помело
Sanskrit: Karuna, Mallikapuspa
Slovak: Citrónovník obrovský
Spanish: Pomelo
Swedish: Pompelmus
Tagalog: Suha
Taiwan: 柚子
Tamil: மெட்டுக்கு - பம்பலிமாக்கு - பொம்மாக்கு Metukku,
Pampalimacu, Pommacu
Telugu: Pamparapanasa
Thai: ส้มโอ
Turkish: Çin Greyfurtu, Pomelo, Şadok
Ukrainian: Помело
Urdu: Chakotara
Vietnam: Bu'o'i

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
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