In Yu Kung manuscript it was said that the larger pomelo was among the tributes ‘wrapped in an embroidered silk scarf at the bottom of a basket’ offered to the Emperor Tayun who reigned from 2205 to 2197 BC.
The pomelo was the ancestors of the grapefruit. The word pomelo is related to the Dutch pampelmoose, and the French pamplemousse (grapefruit), and the French pomme (apple).
The orange and pomelo both took the Silk Road and the path trodden by Chinese medicine to Europe through the East, each going at its own pace.
In the mid-17th century the pomelo was introduced to the W. Indies, where citrus cultivation was already well established.
The pomelo spread to other Caribbean islands, and in 1707 British traveller Hans Sloane remarked that pomelos from Barbados tasted better than those from Jamaica.
History and origin of pomelo
