Ugli Fruit: What Is Ugli Fruit and How to Eat the Jamaican Tangelo

Ugli fruit is a large citrus fruit from Jamaica with a loose, leathery, rough-looking rind and tender, very juicy flesh. Botanically it is a tangelo, the name for crosses of mandarins with grapefruit or pomelo: the UC Riverside citrus collection lists it as the Ugli tangelo, and the USDA National Agricultural Library files uglifruit under tangelos. Ugli is a trademark name rather than a botanical one. This guide answers what is ugli fruit, explains where the Jamaican tangelo came from, shows what the USDA SR Legacy database does and does not list (it has no ugli fruit or tangelo entry), covers how to eat ugli fruit, and quotes what the FDA says about tangelos and medicines.

Peptide Labs does not sell ugli fruit or ugli fruit products. This article is general food information, not medical advice.

What is ugli fruit?

Ugli fruit is a citrus hybrid sold under the trademark name Ugli and also known as the Jamaican tangelo. The Givaudan Citrus Variety Collection at the University of California, Riverside, one of the main US citrus collections, lists it as the Ugli tangelo (Citrus tangelo). Its record describes the fruit as large and broadly obovoid, meaning wider toward one end, with a dull yellowish-orange, medium-thick, leathery rind and orange flesh that is tender and very juicy, with a rich, mildly acidic flavor. The same record says the fruit has characters that suggest mandarin and grapefruit parentage, and adds the view that pomelo, rather than grapefruit, may be the real parent.

The USDA National Agricultural Library Thesaurus, a federal vocabulary used to index farm and food research, lists uglifruit as an entry term under tangelos and defines tangelos as the fruit of a hybrid of grapefruit and tangerine. In short, ugli fruit is one kind of tangelo, related to the fruits in our guides to tangerines, grapefruit and pomelo.

Where the Jamaican tangelo came from

According to the UC Riverside collection record, the fruit came to notice in Jamaica in 1914, was propagated there, and was first exported around 1934. The record says it was called the ugly citrus fruit in the Canadian market that first received it, and that the name Ugli then became the trademark of its main Jamaican exporter. The collection received its own seed from Jamaica in 1942, recorded as US plant introduction PI 132372.

That history explains the odd spelling. In this guide we write ugli fruit in lowercase because that is how most people search for it, while Ugli with a capital letter is the brand name. The name points at the rind, which looks loose, lumpy and blotchy next to a smooth navel or Valencia orange; the flesh inside is what the fruit is grown for.

Ugli fruit nutrition: what USDA does and does not list

USDA SR Legacy, the reference database behind most nutrition tables, has no entry for ugli fruit, Jamaican tangelo or any other tangelo (we searched it for ugli, uniq and tangelo). Because the UC Riverside record describes ugli fruit as a mandarin and grapefruit-type cross, the nearest labeled entries are raw tangerines (mandarin oranges), raw grapefruit and raw oranges. The table shows USDA values per 100 grams with percent Daily Value. These numbers describe those fruits, not ugli fruit, and are here only for comparison.

Percent Daily Values use the FDA Daily Values. The pattern across these USDA citrus entries is consistent: water makes up most of each fruit by weight, vitamin C is the standout nutrient, and the whole fruit carries some fiber and potassium. Our guides to vitamin C sources and fiber-rich foods put citrus next to other foods, and our guide to fruit sugar levels compares sugars across many fruits. Packaged ugli fruit sections or juice should carry a Nutrition Facts label, which is the place to check sugars for the product you actually have.

Is ugli fruit healthy?

Ugli fruit is a fresh citrus fruit, and the USDA entries above show the kind of nutrients citrus brings. What we cannot do is give ugli-specific numbers or point to studies on it. A search of the Europe PMC research database, which includes PubMed, for ugli fruit turned up only passing mentions, such as a patent that lists it among citrus fruits, and no human studies of eating it. Research on other tangelos does exist: a 2026 study in Scientific Reports measured vitamin C, phenols and minerals in 24 new orangelo and tangelo hybrids bred from pomelo crosses and found wide variation between them. That work shows how much tangelos can differ from each other, not what an ugli fruit contains.

A fair summary: ugli fruit is a juicy citrus to enjoy for its flavor, with no USDA values of its own and no proven special effects. If you like comparing citrus, see our guides to oranges, clementines and kumquats, and our sibling guide to calamansi, a small, sour citrus closely tied to the Philippines.

How to eat ugli fruit

• Choose: pick fruit that feels heavy for its size and gives slightly when pressed. The rough, loose, blotchy rind is normal and is where the name came from.
• Peel: the rind is loose, so many people peel it by hand like a large mandarin and pull the segments apart.
• Halve: you can also cut it across the middle and eat the flesh with a spoon, the way many people eat grapefruit.
• Seeds: remove any seeds as you go.
• Store: keep it at room temperature for a few days, or in the refrigerator if you want it to keep longer.
• Serve: add segments to fruit salads or green salads, or squeeze the juice into dressings and drinks.

Juicing an ugli fruit leaves most of the fiber behind, as with any citrus; our oranges guide explains the difference between juice and whole fruit, and our tangerines guide covers the easy-peel mandarin side of the family.

Medicines: what FDA says about tangelos

Grapefruit is the citrus fruit the FDA singles out for drug interactions. The FDA consumer page explains that grapefruit juice can change how some medicines work. It then adds that Seville oranges, pomelos and tangelos, which it describes as a cross between tangerines and grapefruit, might have the same effect as grapefruit juice, and it says: do not eat those fruits if your medicine interacts with grapefruit juice. The FDA page does not name ugli fruit, but ugli fruit is a tangelo, as the USDA thesaurus and the UC Riverside record show, so the FDA advice on tangelos covers it.

In practice, check the patient information for your prescription and the Drug Facts label of any over-the-counter medicine for a grapefruit warning. If you find one, FDA’s advice means skipping tangelos, ugli fruit included, along with grapefruit; ask your pharmacist if you are unsure. The same FDA page notes that the allergy medicine fexofenadine may not work as well with grapefruit, orange or apple juice, and its label says not to take it with fruit juices. Our grapefruit guide and bitter orange guide cover the other fruits FDA names.

Allergy, acidity and labels

• Allergy: citrus is not one of the nine major food allergens under US law, but citrus allergy exists; anyone who reacts to citrus should ask an allergist.
• Acidity: like other citrus, ugli fruit is acidic; people with reflux or sensitive teeth may notice it.
• Labels: for packaged sections or juice, the Nutrition Facts label shows sugars and serving size, and the ingredient list shows whether anything was added.

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions about a label? Contact us or read our Buyer’s Guide. Food comes first; follow the label and ask a healthcare provider before starting a supplement, especially if you take medicines, are pregnant or have a food allergy. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Last reviewed October 2026.

Related guides: Calamansi: What It Is, Calamansi Juice Uses and Calamansi vs Lime, Grapefruit: Grapefruit Nutrition, Benefits and Medication, Tangerine Nutrition, Benefits and Tangerine vs Orange.