How to distinguish Chinese grapefruit and Vietnamese grapefruit

In Vietnam, grapefruit is an extremely popular crop, grown in specialized growing areas for domestic consumption and export. Accordingly, there are not only 1-2 types of grapefruit but our country has dozens of specialty grapefruits such as: Green-skin grapefruit, Nam Roi grapefruit, Dien grapefruit, Hoang grapefruit, Van Luan red grapefruit, Doan Hung grapefruit,...

Some types of grapefruit are sold all year round, but this is the main harvest season for this citrus fruit. Accordingly, grapefruit is the fruit that is being sold in abundance in markets and supermarkets with prices ranging from 20,000-150,000 VND/fruit, depending on the type.

However, recently, in addition to Vietnamese grapefruit, there have also appeared on the marketChinese grapefruitThis type of Chinese grapefruit is also sold quite a lot and costs only 25,000-40,000 VND/fruit.

So how to distinguish between Chinese grapefruit and Vietnamese grapefruit to avoid buying the wrong one?

Chinese grapefruit is often wrapped in a thin layer of plastic on the outside.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan, a wholesaler of grapefruit at Long Bien wholesale market (Hanoi), Chinese grapefruit has a very recognizable feature, which is its beautiful appearance. The outside of the grapefruit is covered with a thin layer of nylon like food wrap. Peeling off this nylon layer will reveal a smooth, shiny yellow grapefruit peel.

The weight of Chinese grapefruit is quite large, the smallest fruit is about 1.5kg, the average fruit weighs from 1.8-2.5kg, some even weigh up to 3kg.

Grapefruit has a very eye-catching shiny yellow color.

Chinese grapefruit weighs from 1.5-3kg/fruit. In the photo, the yellow grapefruit is Chinese grapefruit, and the green grapefruit is Vietnamese Green-skin grapefruit.

There are two types of Chinese grapefruit sold in Vietnam, including red-segmented grapefruit and white-segmented grapefruit, but the external appearance of these two types is identical. When you cut open the grapefruit, you will see that the peel and pulp are very thin; the grapefruit segments are large but taste a bit sour, not sweet, even a bit bitter; the grapefruit segments have little water and especially do not have the characteristic aroma like Vietnamese grapefruit.

Meanwhile, with Green-skin grapefruit and Van Luan red grapefruit, it is easy to distinguish because one has a green outer skin, the other has a red outer skin. Therefore, just by looking at the outside, you can immediately distinguish because this is a very easily recognizable difference.

Chinese grapefruit has 2 types of white segments...

...and red shrimp, but they are both a bit sour, even bitter, not as fragrant as Vietnamese grapefruit.

Dien grapefruit and Doan Hung grapefruit have yellow skin. However, these two types of grapefruit are quite small, weighing less than 1.2 kg/fruit, some even only weigh 6-8 taels.

Another difference is that the outer skin of these two types of grapefruit is yellow but not as shiny as Chinese grapefruit. The segments of Dien grapefruit and Doan Hung grapefruit are quite small but the segments are very juicy, sweet to eat, with a pure and pleasant aroma.

In addition, in some areas, people also grow spontaneous, unknown grapefruit varieties and bring them to the city to sell, colloquially called country grapefruit. This grapefruit is larger than Dien grapefruit but still only 2/3 the weight of an average Chinese grapefruit. The peel of the forgotten grapefruit is green and has a sour taste. Even when ripe, the Vietnamese grapefruit is still yellow-green, with many spots being sunburned.