Fruits
Grapefruit Juice
Fresh grapefruit juice is about 90% water and 8% sugars, split almost evenly between glucose, fructose and sucrose. In sorbetto it brings a sharp, bitter citrus flavour, a moderate sugar load and essentially no fat, milk solids or protein.
Balancing parameters
Per 100 g of product, verified against independent food-science sources (listed below).
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Total Solids | 10% |
| Water | 90% |
| Sugars | 8% |
| Fat | 0.1% |
| MSNF | 0% |
| Protein | 0.5% |
| POD (sweetening power) | 9.1 |
| PAC (anti-freezing power) | 12.7 |
Typical use: About 45 to 55% of the mix in a grapefruit sorbetto, stirred cold into a chilled syrup.
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Open the balancerHow to use it in gelato
Per 100 g, fresh juice carries about 8 g of sugars (glucose 2.5, fructose 2.7, sucrose 2.8), which gives about 9 POD and 13 PAC: two thirds of the sugar is glucose and fructose, so the juice softens a sorbet more than its sweetness suggests. It also carries about 1.3 g of citric and other acids, which is why grapefruit sorbets need more added sugar than berry sorbets to taste balanced. Juice the fruit the day you churn and keep the juice off the heat: limonin bitterness builds for hours after pressing.
Origin & background
Grapefruit (Citrus x paradisi) arose in Barbados in the 18th century as a natural cross between the pomelo and the sweet orange; the Welsh naturalist Griffith Hughes described it in 1750 as the forbidden fruit of the island. It reached Florida in the 19th century, and the red-fleshed Ruby Red, found in Texas in 1929, helped make pink and red juice the sweeter, milder standard.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- USDA FoodData Central, Grapefruit juice, pink, raw (FDC 167774): water 90.0 g, protein 0.5 g, fat 0.1 g, carbohydrate 9.2 g per 100 g: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/167774/nutrients
- USDA FoodData Central, Grapefruit juice, pink or red, with added calcium (FDC 173038, analytical): water 90.8 g, total sugars 7.96 g (sucrose 2.54, glucose 2.67, fructose 2.75) per 100 g: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/173038/nutrients
- Ciqual 2025 (ANSES), Jus de pamplemousse (pomelo), pur jus, code 2027: water 89.9 g, protein 0.49 g, fat 0.08 g, sugars 8.89 g (fructose 2.66, glucose 2.69, sucrose 2.22), organic acids 1.3 g per 100 g: https://ciqual.anses.fr/#/aliments/2027/jus-de-pamplemousse-(pomelo)-pur-jus
- BDA IEO (Italian food composition database), Spremuta di pompelmo, fresco, code 100203: water 90 g, soluble carbohydrates 7.9 g, glucose 2.4, fructose 2.7, sucrose 2.8 g per 100 g (sugar split from McCance and Widdowson): https://bda.ieo.it/?page_id=23&lang=en
- Zhang and Ritenour (2016), Sugar composition analysis of commercial citrus juice products, Proc. Florida State Hort. Soc. 129:178-180: grapefruit juice glucose 2.5, fructose 2.7, sucrose 2.8, total 8.0 g per 100 mL (38 samples): https://journals.flvc.org/fshs/article/download/106057/101709