Buyer's Guide to Florida Citrus

Buying Ruby Red Grapefruit

The Bottom Line

Looking for juicy, succulent, sweet–tart taste? You found it. The gorgeous, unforgettable Ruby Red grapefruit is like no other. Once the Ruby Red was discovered and hit the market, other grapefruit varieties lost much of their popularity. There's a reason for that!

Buy Ruby Red Grapefruit

Appearance

The Ruby Red has a classic yellow grapefruit peel with a lovely blush of red. Slice open the thin–skinned fruit to find beautiful, light–pink to deep red flesh inside.

Taste

The Ruby Red is one of the sweetest grapefruits you can buy — without losing that unique, well–loved grapefruit tang.

Juiciness

There's no question that Ruby Reds are juicy! After you've enjoyed them for breakfast and sectioned some up for salads, sauces, seafood dishes, or other delights, squeeze up a few and enjoy a glass of the best grapefruit juice you've ever had.

Seeds

Unlike older white and pink varieties, the Ruby Red is virtually seedless. (As with other seedless citrus, you may find a stray seed here and there.)

Eating out of hand

Can you eat a grapefruit out of hand? When it's a Ruby Red, you might well want to! This page shows one way to peel the fruit and easily remove the tender, juicy segments.

Availability

You can buy Ruby Red grapefruit from November through March, but they're at their peak in January and February. In fact, February is National Grapefruit Month.

Best Used For

Of course, Ruby Reds are awesome in their classic use as a halved and sectioned breakfast fruit, and they also make delicious and abundant juice — some people prefer grapefruit juice over all others. (It's also a classic mix–in for many cocktails.) But don't forget grapefruit's culinary uses — it's getting more popular for this all the time.

Why Should I Buy Ruby Red Grapefruit?

Choose Ruby Red grapefruit because you love its distinctive sweet–sour, full–bodied taste and want a juicy, nutritious citrus. Or just because you love grapefruit at breakfast!

Interesting Facts

Did you know that red grapefruits are more nutritious than white ones? It's true. Like all citrus, grapefruit has plenty of vitamin C — but Ruby Reds are also high in lycopene, an antioxidant with the power to fight free radicals, which age our bodies. In fact, lycopene is what makes red grapefruit red. Ruby Reds are also much higher in vitamin A than white grapefruit.

In a scientific experiment, red grapefruit were found to lower cholesterol levels, while white grapefruit had no such effect.

The Ruby Red grapefruit is patented!

Grapefruit is big in Japan. About 40% of Florida's grapefruit crop is shipped to that country.

History

Back in 1929, A. E. Henninger of McAllen, TX discovered a red–fruited "limb sport" growing on a pink grapefruit tree. A "limb sport" occurs when one branch of a tree shows different characteristics than the rest of it. Henninger was quick to see the fruit's potential, and by 1934 he'd patented his discovery. The Ruby Red and other red varieties took off from there.