Scientists Create Hybrid Grapefruit Safe for Heart Patients

Published November 11, 2011
| FoxNews.com


Grapefruit lovers, rejoice!

If you love grapefruit, but can’t eat it because of its dangerous interaction with some prescription medications, there is hope.

Scientists at the University of Florida have created a hybrid grapefruit that has the same citrus taste, but without the furanocoumarin compound that can be unsafe when combined with blood pressure and heart medications.

“There are certain relatives of grapefruit that we call pummelo, some of which are very, very low or have no furanocoumarins in them at all,” said Fred Gmitter, a citrus geneticist at UF.

As an added bonus – the new grapefruit is seedless.

The hybrid grapefruit is described in the Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/11/11/scientists-create-hybrid-grapefruit-safe-for-heart-patients/#ixzz1dWCDYVqy