Care & Handling

Availability
Green Giant Fresh Grapefruit are available year round.

Varieties
Grapefruit comes in white (actually yellow), pink, and red varieties--colors that refer to the flesh. All three types are similar in taste and texture. The varieties that have seeds are often used for making grapefruit juice. The most popular pink varieties for eating are the Pink Seedless and Ruby Red Seedless. A number of newer red and pink varieties, such as Star Ruby (a seedless grapefruit with a blush three times redder than Ruby Red) are grown in Texas, California, and Arizona--the other grapefruit-growing states--as well as Florida.

Selection
Since grapefruit is not picked until fully ripe, you never have to worry about getting a "green" one. Under certain growing conditions, the pink or yellow skin may revert to green after it is ripe, but the fruit will lose none of its sweetness. Look for round, smooth fruits that are heavy for their size (they will be juicy). Coarse-skinned grapefruits or those that are puffy, soft, or pointed at one end are inferior; glossy fruits with slightly flattened ends are preferable. Gray-brown "russeting" or other skin defects are superficial and do not affect quality. At room temperature, you may be able to detect a mildly sweet fragrance, but it will not be apparent if the fruit is chilled.

Storage
Grapefruits can be left at room temperature for a week, and are juiciest when slightly warm rather than chilled. For longer storage, they should be held in the refrigerator crisper, where they will keep for six to eight weeks. Leave grapefruits at room temperature for a while before you juice them or eat them.

Preparation
Rinse grapefruits before cutting them. For serving from the "shell," halve grapefruit crosswise. Use a grapefruit spoon with a serrated tip to scoop out the sections, or prepare the fruit using a sharp paring knife or a curved-blade grapefruit knife, running it between each segment of flesh and the membrane "dividers." (Grapefruits, like other citrus fruits, may be called "seedless" if they contain no more than five seeds, so don't be surprised if you have to remove a few seeds.)

You can also peel a grapefruit as you would an orange; use your hands or pare the skin with a sharp knife: Slice a disk of peel from the top, then pare slices downward around the fruit; or, pare the skin in a spiral, as you would an apple. Then pull apart the segments with your hands and, if desired, remove the membranes from each segment.