Xishuangbanna Pomelo

Xishuangbanna Pomelo

　　Xishuangbanna pomelo is a specialty of Xishuangbanna Prefecture in Yunnan Province. Commonly known as "big bubble fruit," the pomelo is called "Ma Jingzhang" or "Ma O" in the Dai language of Xishuangbanna. It is cultivated throughout Xishuangbanna, with major production areas including low-altitude river valley basins such as Jinghong, Olive Dam, Menglun, and Mengla.

　　The pomelo tree is a fruit tree of the Rutaceae family. It has a strong constitution with many branches, blossoming and bearing fruit every spring, with flowers that are white and fragrant. The fruits grow singly or in clusters of two or three. They are generally oblate or pointedly round in shape, large in size, with individual fruits weighing between 1–3 kilograms. Young fruits are bright green, and when ripe, their rind turns light yellow or yellow-green. The rind is smooth and densely covered with oil glands, containing a distinctive yellow volatile oil. The peel is relatively thick, with inner layers that are spongy and soft like sponge. The fruit stores and transports well—as long as the flesh isn’t crushed, it can remain good for ten to fifteen days. The pulp consists of multiple segments, with 12–18 segments per fruit. The pulp inside the segments is granular, available in both white and red varieties, with flavors ranging from sweet to sweet-and-sour. The whole pomelo (with rind) contains compounds such as naringin, poncirin, neohesperidin, aurantiamarin-4, and glucoside-7, along with nutrients like carotene, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin C, niacin, calcium, phosphorus, iron, and volatile oils. The rind contains 0.3–0.9% volatile oil. Young fruits are sour and are traditionally used as dried slices in decoctions to treat urinary urgency and pain.

　　There are many varieties of pomelos grown in Xishuangbanna. Introduced varieties include Sweetie Pomelo and Late White Pomelo, while local varieties include Menglun Early, Dongshi Early, Menghan Pomelo, and Mansailong Pomelo. Menglun Early and Dongshi Early are early-season varieties, available in early autumn, whereas Mansailong Pomelo matures later, available in late autumn to early winter, with pink segments and a slightly more sour taste than Menglun Early but juicier and with finer flesh. The pomelo cultivation area in Xishuangbanna is approximately 20,000 mu, yielding over 40,000 tons of pomelos annually.