The ugli fruit is a mix between a grapefruit and a mandarin orange. It’s known as tangelo in general. Uniq Fruit, Unique Fruit, and Ugli Fruit are all names for the same fruit. Because of its unattractive appearance, Jamaican natives nicknamed it the ugli fruit. The very first tree is thought to have been a cross between the Seville orange, grapefruit, and tangerine families.
This citrus fruit is hideous to look at with its lumpy and wrinkly skin and bad complexion, but it has a mild but incredibly sweet flavor and juicy sloppy goodness!
This unique fruit can be used in the same way as you would any other citrus fruit. It goes well with a mixed dark greens salad or a tropical fruit salad.
Types of Ugli fruits
Ugli Fruit
The Ugli citrus fruit peel is tough, leathery, and semi-thick, with reddish-brown areas, scars, lumps, and creases. Their fruit is uneven, oval to slightly flattened, oblate shaped, and are 10 to 15 centimeters in diameter. Ugli fruits vary in color, with green, yellow, and orange tones, and as they grow, they take on deeper yellow-orange colors, with green patches occasionally remaining. It’s crucial to remember that green fruit does not necessarily mean it’s not ready to eat.
The peel adheres loosely to the flesh, making it easy to remove, and the flesh is segmented into 10 to 12 large fibrous membranes. The flesh is delicate, watery, and juicy, ranging in hue from yellow to orange and containing a few cream-colored seeds or being seedless.
Ugli fruits have a sweet, gently tangy flavor with delicious overtones of pineapple, grapefruit, and oranges. They have a light, lemon-like scent and a sweet, subtly tangy flavor.
Honeybell Tangelos
Honeybell Tangelos have red-orange skin that is smooth, delicately pitted or dimpled, and easy to peel. Their orange meat is highly juicy, soft, seedless, and separated into 10-12 segments under the skin.
Honeybell tangelos are round to oval in shape, with a slightly elongated neck and a prominent bulge at the stem end, and are medium to big in size, averaging 7-10 centimeters in diameter.
Honeybell tangelos have an aromatic flavor profile that includes sweet, honey-like notes as well as acidic and sour floral aromas.
Honeybell tangelos are a great source of vitamin C, potassium, and folate, and they also include a little amount of calcium and fiber, among other nutrients.
Lavender Gem Tangelos
The Lavender Gem Tangelo fruit surface is a glossy, leathery, and pebbled appearance with conspicuous oil glands that emit aromatic essential oils, ranging in hue from golden yellow to orange.
The fruits are tiny to medium-sized with slightly flattened ends and an obovate to spherical shape.
The flesh is sensitive, firm, and watery beneath the semi-thick rind and is separated into 11 to 12 segments by thin membranes. The segments encase many rounds to oval, cream-colored seeds. The flesh color varies depending on the climate. The flesh takes on a mild pink-purple flush in warmer climates, while it takes on amber, yellow, and ivory tones in cooler temperatures.
Lavender Gem Tangelos contain lower amounts of acidity when compared to other tangelos, which gives them a gentle, sweet, tangy flavor with fruity and flowery undertones. The peel is also less bitter than other citrus kinds, with a little sweetness to it.
Seminole tangelos
Seminole Tangelos have a thin, shiny, leathery rind that is smooth, shiny, and leathery, with conspicuous oil glands and a color range of orange to red-orange. The rind is also somewhat adherent to the luscious, soft orange flesh, divided into 10 to 13 segments separated by thin membranes.
These tangelos are globular to oval in shape and small to medium, averaging around eight centimeters in diameter.
Depending on what method is used to cultivate them, the meat may be seedless or contain many inedible seeds. Seminole tangelos have a sweet flavor with sharp acidity and are fragrant.
Wekiwa Tangelos
The Wekiwa peel is smooth, leathery with visible oil glands. They are delicate, easily bruised, with a bright yellow to the yellow-orange color range. There is a moderate layer of white, spongy pith beneath the surface that can easily be separated from the pale yellow, golden, and amber meat.
Wekiwa tangelos have a spherical to oval form with a slightly flattened top and bottom and are small to medium in size.
When they are cultivated in warm climates, the sensitive, watery flesh is tinged with pink-purple streaks. The flesh is separated into 11 to 12 segments by thin membranes, encasing many round to oval, cream-colored seeds. It has a sweet, gently tart, flowery, and fruity flavor with moderate acidity, resulting in a less bitter and sour flavor than various other citrus fruits.
Health Benefits
The ugli fruit, a combination of grapefruits, oranges, and tangerines, contains most of the amazing nutritional benefits of the three-parent fruits! Some Health benefits include;
Aids in Weight Loss
Ugli fruit is a no-brainer for individuals trying to lose weight because it has a low-calorie count per serving and includes no carbohydrates or fat. Eating fruits like the ugli fruit and other citrus fruits has also been linked to a lower risk of being overweight or obese.
Boosts Immune System Function
As is true of most citrus fruits, the ugli fruit is a fantastic source of antioxidants, particularly but not exclusively vitamin C . Because vitamin C is such a well-known antioxidant and because half of one ugli fruit contains 70 percent of the daily recommended intake of vitamin C, you’re likely to reap the benefits of eating ugli fruit regularly by experiencing an improvement in your immune function.
Ugli fruit also provides 8% of the daily required dietary fiber intake per serving. Fiber is essential for a variety of bodily functions, including the immune system.
Flavonoids, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory qualities, are abundant in ugli fruits.
Final Thoughts
The ugli fruit has a number of health benefits, including weight loss, cancer-fighting minerals, diabetes, and heart disease protection, and the breakdown of gallstones and kidney stones.
Are you inclined to try the ugli fruit now that you’ve been introduced to it, especially if you enjoy oranges and grapefruits? We hope reading this article has made you want to give this specially unique fruit a taste!