Pomelo: nutrition per 100 g

1. 01

   Strong vitamin C

   At 48.9 mg vitamin C per 100 g, pomelo ranks 10th of 44 fruits and 30th of 130 foods. That is about 61 per cent of the daily requirement for a man and 75 per cent for a woman, from 100 g.

2. 02

   Vitamin E for a citrus

   Its 0.46 mg vitamin E per 100 g ranks 5th of 44 fruits and 91st of 242 foods, an unusual place for a citrus fruit, which is usually valued for vitamin C alone.

3. 03

   Low fibre in the flesh

   With 0.8 g dietary fibre per 100 g, pomelo ranks 42nd of 43 fruits. The fibre stays mostly in the thick pith and segment skins, which are peeled away.

4. 04

   Very little iron

   IFCT 2017 lists 0.06 mg iron per 100 g, the least of 43 fruits. Its vitamin C can still help the iron from other foods in the meal absorb.

Values per 100 g of the edible portion. Source: Longvah T, Ananthan R, Bhaskarachary K, Venkaiah K. Indian Food Composition Tables 2017. National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research, Hyderabad. Daily-need shares use the ICMR-NIN 2020 recommended dietary allowances for a 65 kg man and a 55 kg woman doing sedentary work (ICMR-NIN brief note). Nutrients IFCT did not analyse for this food are left out rather than shown as zero.

• Batabi lebu makha: segments broken up with salt, sugar, green chilli and a drizzle of mustard oil, a Bengali winter snack.
• Eaten plain or with salt and chilli powder in Kerala and the Konkan.
• Tossed into a salad with roasted peanuts, coriander, mint and a little jaggery.
• The thick peel candied in sugar syrup, a traditional way to use the whole fruit.

Like grapefruit, pomelo contains compounds that block an enzyme the body uses to break down certain medicines, including some cholesterol-lowering statins, blood pressure drugs and transplant medicines. That can push drug levels too high. Anyone on regular medication should ask a doctor or pharmacist before eating pomelo often. For everyone else, it is a refreshing, lighter citrus. The thick peel is hard to remove; score it with a knife and pull the segments free.

Food composition is general information, not a diet plan. Anyone managing a medical condition should plan their diet with a doctor or a registered dietitian.

• Orange

  Nutrition per 100 g, from IFCT 2017.

• Sweet lime (mosambi)

  Nutrition per 100 g, from IFCT 2017.

• Lemon (juice)

  Nutrition per 100 g, from IFCT 2017.

• Amla (Indian gooseberry)

  Nutrition per 100 g, from IFCT 2017.

• Guava

  Nutrition per 100 g, from IFCT 2017.

All Indian foods · Nutrient tables · Food comparisons