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Crop Information
Rio Red Grapefruit - Mid November through mid March
In the mid 1960's, buds from a Ruby Red grapefruit tree located on the Texas A & I University Citrus Center in Weslaco, Texas were collected and sent to Brookhaven Laboratories in Long Island, New York. There the buds were irradiated with thermal neutrons and then shipped back to Weslaco for propagation. By the early 1970's, the trees were beginning to produce fruit. The fruit was two times more red both in exterior as well as interior color as the original Ruby Red. In 1976, a single limb on one of the test planted trees was observed to have much more red colored fruit than fruit on the rest of the tree. Buds were taken from this branch and propagated. By the early 1980's, the trees were producing fruit and the fruit was, in fact, very high colored both inside and out, approaching five times more red as the original Ruby Red. In 1984, a naming contest was held by TexaSweet Advertising and the name “Rio Red” was chosen. Budwood was released to Texas citrus nurseryman late in 1984 and to other citrus producing states in the early 1990's.
Grapefruit require high heat during the growing season in order to reach maximum eating quality. The climate in Southwest Arizona is nearly perfect for producing good eating quality as well as an attractive exterior appearance. Interior color is a light burgundy and most fruit contain only one to six seeds. Average skin thickness ranges from 3/16's to 5/16's of an inch. Exterior color is a medium burgundy against a yellowish-red background. Average fruit size ranges from 3 3/4 to 4 1/4 inches in diameter.
Rio Red Grapefruit are commercially packed into Fancy and Choice grades. While the majority are packed into a standard two-piece fiberboard carton holding approximately thirty-two (32) pounds, Rio Red’s are also packed into five, eight, and ten pound bags and a consumer carton equivalent to a half carton of grapefruit. Commercial sizes of Rio Red’s based on how many pieces of fruit are packed into the standard thirty-two pound carton include 18's, 23's, 27's, 32's, 36's, 40's, 48's, and 56's.
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