The use of irrigation at the semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil has made feasible several commercial fruit trees crops such as grapevines, mango, guava, coconut, banana and others, like grapefruit, which actually is being studied. A collection formed by six grapefruit varieties showing a pink-red pulp color (Marsh Foster, Star Ruby, Rio Red and Red Blush) and a creamy color (Triumph and Marsh Foster Nucelar) and consisting of five plants/plot was installed in 1993 at the Ibimirim Experimental Station, located in the Moxotó river valley at the semi-arid region of Pernambuco - Northeast Brazil, under irrigation. Evaluations carried out during three years (from 2000 to 2002) have shown high yield variability among the varieties; with 'Star Ruby' reaching an average of 31.0 kg/tree and 'Nucelar Marsh Foster' yielding as much as 135,0 kg/tree. Mean fruit weight also varied, from 285.5g (Red Blush) to 401.6g in 'Triumph' variety. Fruit composition and quality measured through the total soluble solids (TSS), acidity (TA) and SST/TA ratio contents have shown high variations among grapefruit varieties studied.
Citrus paradisi; production; fruit quality
