Lemon

The lemon, Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck, is a species of small evergreen

tree in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to South Asia,
Lemon
primarily North eastern India.

The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary
purposes throughout the world, primarily for its juice, which has both
culinary and cleaning uses.[2] The pulp and rind are also used in cooking
and baking. The juice of the lemon is about 5% to 6% citric acid, with a
pH of around 2.2, giving it a sour taste. The distinctive sour taste of
lemon juice makes it a key ingredient in drinks and foods such as
lemonade and lemon meringue pie.
A fruiting lemon tree. A blossom is
also visible.

Scientific classification
Contents
Kingdom: Plantae
History
Varieties Clade: Angiosperms
Nutrition and phytochemicals Clade: Eudicots
Culinary uses
Clade: Rosids
Juice
Peel Order: Sapindales
Oil
Family: Rutaceae
Leaves
Other uses Genus: Citrus
Industrial
Species: C. limon
As a cleaning agent
Aroma Binomial name
Other
Citrus limon
Horticulture (L.) Osbeck
Production
Synonyms[1]
Lemon alternatives
Other citrus called 'lemons' List
Gallery
See also
References
External links

History
The origin of the lemon is unknown, though lemons are thought to have first grown in Assam (a region in northeast
India), northern Burma or China.[2] A genomic study of the lemon indicated it was a hybrid between bitter orange
(sour orange) and citron.[3][4]
Lemons entered Europe near southern Italy no later than the second
century AD, during the time of Ancient Rome.[2] However, they were not
widely cultivated. They were later introduced to Persia and then to Iraq
and Egypt around 700 AD.[2] The lemon was first recorded in literature in
a 10th-century Arabic treatise on farming, and was also used as an
ornamental plant in early Islamic gardens.[2] It was distributed widely
throughout the Arab world and the Mediterranean region between 1000 Lemon external surface and cross-
section
and 1150.[2]

The first substantial cultivation of lemons in Europe began in Genoa in the

middle of the 15th century. The lemon was later introduced to the Americas in 1493 when Christopher Columbus
brought lemon seeds to Hispaniola on his voyages. Spanish conquest throughout the New World helped spread lemon
seeds. It was mainly used as an ornamental plant and for medicine.[2] In the 19th century, lemons were increasingly
planted in Florida and California.[2]

In 1747, James Lind's experiments on seamen suffering from scurvy involved adding lemon juice to their diets, though
vitamin C was not yet known as an important dietary ingredient.[2][5]

The origin of the word lemon may be Middle Eastern.[2] The word draws from the Old French limon, then Italian
limone, from the Arabic laymūn or līmūn, and from the Persian līmūn, a generic term for citrus fruit, which is a
cognate of Sanskrit (nimbū, “lime”).[6]

Varieties
The 'Bonnie Brae' is oblong, smooth, thin-skinned and seedless.[7]
These are mostly grown in San Diego County, USA.[8]

The 'Eureka' grows year-round and abundantly. This is the common

supermarket lemon,[9] also known as 'Four Seasons' (Quatre Saisons)
because of its ability to produce fruit and flowers together throughout
the year. This variety is also available as a plant to domestic
customers.[10] There is also a pink-fleshed Eureka lemon, with a green
and yellow variegated outer skin.[11]

The 'Femminello St. Teresa', or 'Sorrento'[12] is native to Italy. This

fruit's zest is high in lemon oils. It is the variety traditionally used in
the making of limoncello.

The 'Yen Ben' is an Australasian cultivar.[13]

Nutrition and phytochemicals Detailed taxonomic illustration by Franz

Eugen Köhler.
Lemon is a rich source of vitamin C, providing 64% of the Daily Value
in a 100 g reference amount (table). Other essential
nutrients are low in content.
Lemon, raw, without peel
Lemons contain numerous phytochemicals, including Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
polyphenols, terpenes, and tannins.[14] Lemon juice Energy 121 kJ (29 kcal)
contains slightly more citric acid than lime juice (about
Carbohydrates 9.32 g
47 g/l), nearly twice the citric acid of grapefruit juice, and
Sugars 2.5 g
about five times the amount of citric acid found in orange
Dietary fiber 2.8 g
juice.[15]
Fat 0.3 g
Culinary uses Protein 1.1 g
Vitamins Quantity %DV†
Lemon juice, rind, and peel are used in a wide variety of
Thiamine (B1) 0.04 mg 3%
foods and drinks. The whole lemon is used to make
Riboflavin (B2) 0.02 mg 2%
marmalade, lemon curd and lemon liqueur. Lemon slices
Niacin (B3) 0.1 mg 1%
and lemon rind are used as a garnish for food and drinks.
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.19 mg 4%
Lemon zest, the grated outer rind of the fruit, is used to
Vitamin B6 0.08 mg 6%
add flavor to baked goods, puddings, rice, and other
Folate (B9) 11 μg 3%
dishes.
Choline 5.1 mg 1%
Vitamin C 53 mg 64%
Juice Minerals Quantity %DV†
Lemon juice is used to make lemonade, soft drinks, and Calcium 26 mg 3%
cocktails. It is used in marinades for fish, where its acid Iron 0.6 mg 5%
neutralizes amines in fish by converting them into Magnesium 8 mg 2%
nonvolatile ammonium salts. In meat, the acid partially
Manganese 0.03 mg 1%
Phosphorus 16 mg 2%
hydrolyzes tough collagen fibers, tenderizing the meat,
Potassium 138 mg 3%
but the low pH denatures the proteins, causing them to
Zinc 0.06 mg 1%
dry out when cooked. In the United Kingdom, lemon
juice is frequently added to pancakes, especially on
Link to USDA Database entry (http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/nd
Shrove Tuesday. b/search/list?qlookup=09150&format=Full)

Lemon juice is also used as a short-term preservative on Units

certain foods that tend to oxidize and turn brown after μg = micrograms • mg = milligrams
IU = International units
being sliced (enzymatic browning), such as apples,
†Percentages are roughly approximated using
bananas, and avocados, where its acid denatures the
enzymes. US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient Database (https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/index.html)

Peel
In Morocco, lemons are preserved in jars or barrels of salt. The salt penetrates the peel and rind, softening them, and
curing them so that they last almost indefinitely. The preserved lemon is used in a wide variety of dishes. Preserved
lemons can also be found in Sicilian, Italian, Greek, and French dishes.

A major industry use of the peel is manufacturing of pectin - a polysaccharide used as a gelling agent, thickening agent
and stabilizer in food and other products.

Oil
Lemon oil is extracted from oil-containing cells in the skin. A machine breaks up the cells, and uses a water spray to
flush off the oil. The oil/water mixture is then filtered and separated by centrifugation.[16]

Leaves
The leaves of the lemon tree are used to make a tea and for preparing cooked meats and seafoods.

Other uses

Industrial
Lemons were the primary commercial source of citric acid before the development of fermentation-based
processes.[17]

As a cleaning agent
The juice of the lemon may be used for cleaning. A halved lemon dipped in salt or baking powder is used to brighten
copper cookware. The acid dissolves the tarnish, and the abrasives assist the cleaning. As a kitchen cleaning agent the
juice can deodorize, remove grease, bleach stains, and disinfects. The oil of the lemon's peel also has various uses. It is
used as a wood cleaner and polish, where its solvent property is employed to dissolve old wax, fingerprints, and grime.
Lemon oil and orange oil are also used as a nontoxic insecticide treatment.

Aroma
Lemon oil may be used in aromatherapy. Lemon oil aroma does not influence the human immune system,[18] but may
contribute to relaxation.[19]

Other
One educational science experiment involves attaching electrodes to a lemon and using it as a battery to produce
electricity. Although very low power, several lemon batteries can power a small digital watch.[20] These experiments
also work with other fruits and vegetables.

Lemon juice may be used as a simple invisible ink, developed by heat.[21]

Horticulture
Lemons need a minimum temperature of around 7 °C (45 °F), so they are not hardy year-round in temperate climates,
but become hardier as they mature.[22] Citrus require minimal pruning by trimming overcrowded branches, with the
tallest branch cut back to encourage bushy growth.[22] Throughout summer, pinching back tips of the most vigorous
growth assures more abundant canopy development. As mature plants may produce unwanted, fast-growing shoots
called ‘water shoots,’ these are removed from the main branches at the bottom or middle of the plant.[22]

In cultivation in the UK, the cultivars ‘Meyer’[23] and ‘Variegata’[24] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s
Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017).[25]

Production
In 2017, world production of lemons (combined with limes for reporting) was 17.2 million tonnes.[26] The top
producers – Mexico, India, China, Argentina, Brazil, and Turkey – collectively accounted for 65% of global production
(table).[26]

Lemon alternatives
Many plants taste or smell similar to lemons.

Limes, another common sour citrus fruit, used similarly to lemons

Kaffir lime leaves: popular in east Asian cuisine

Certain cultivars of basil
Sumac fruits, were used long before lemmons where known to Europeans, also pink lemmonade was used in
North America and other Rhus species were used in places where lemmons were out of reach, as in midle east
where sumac is still very popular.
Cymbopogon (lemongrass)
 Lemon balm, a mint-like herbaceous perennial in the family
Lamiaceae Lemon (and lime) production, 2017
Two varieties of scented geranium: Pelargonium crispum (in millions of tonnes)
(lemon geranium) and Pelargonium x melissinum (lemon
balm)
Lemon thyme Country 2017
Lemon verbena Mexico 2.5
Certain cultivars of mint
India 2.4
Magnolia grandiflora tree flowers
China 2.3
Other citrus called 'lemons' Argentina 1.7

Flat lemon, a mandarin hybrid Brazil 1.3

Meyer lemon, a cross between a citron and a Turkey 1.0
mandarin/pomelo hybrid distinct from sour or sweet
orange,[27] named after Frank N. Meyer, who first introduced World 17.2
it to the United States in 1908. Thin-skinned and slightly less
acidic than the Lisbon and Eureka lemons, Meyer lemons
require more care when shipping and are not widely grown on a commercial basis. Meyer lemons often mature to
a yellow-orange color. They are slightly more frost-tolerant.
Ponderosa lemon, more cold-sensitive than true lemons, the fruit are thick-skinned and very large. Genetic
analysis showed it to be a complex hybrid of citron and pomelo.[27]
Rough lemon, a citron-mandarin cross, cold-hardy and often used as a citrus rootstock[27]
Sweet lemons or sweet limes, a mixed group including the lumia (pear lemon), limetta, and Palestinian sweet
lime. Among them is the Jaffa lemon, a pomelo-citron hybrid.[27]
Volkamer lemon, like the rough lemon, a citron-mandarin cross[27]

Gallery

Flower Lemon seedling Mature lemons

Full-sized tree Variegated pink lemon

See also
List of lemon dishes and beverages
Food portal
References
1. "The Plant List:Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck" (http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/tro-28101295). Royal Botanic
Gardens Kew and Missouri Botanic Garden. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
2. Julia F. Morton (1987). "Lemon in Fruits of Warm Climates" (http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/lemon.ht
ml#Description). Purdue University. pp. 160–168.
3. Gulsen, O.; M. L. Roose (2001). "Lemons: Diversity and Relationships with Selected Citrus Genotypes as
Measured with Nuclear Genome Markers". Journal of the American Society of Horticultural Science. 126: 309–
317.
4. Genetic origin of cultivated citrus determined: Researchers find evidence of origins of orange, lime, lemon,
grapefruit, other citrus species" (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110118101600.htm), Science
Daily, January 26, 2011 (Retrieved February 10, 2017).
5. James Lind (1757). A treatise on the scurvy. Second edition. London: A. Millar.
6. Douglas Harper. "Online Etymology Dictionary" (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=lemon).
7. Spalding, William A. (1885). The orange: its culture in California (https://books.google.com/books?id=_l1EAAAAY
AAJ&dq=Bonnie%20Brae%20lemon&pg=PA88#v=onepage&q=Bonnie%20Brae%20lemon&f=false). Riverside,
California: Press and Horticulturist Steam Print. p. 88. Retrieved March 2, 2012.
8. Carque, Otto (2006) [1923]. Rational Diet: An Advanced Treatise on the Food Question (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=zDjmYpZGh_4C&lpg=PA195&dq=Bonnie%20Brae%20lemon&pg=PA195#v=onepage&q=Bonnie%2
0Brae%20lemon&f=false). Los Angeles, California: Kessinger Publishing. p. 195. ISBN 978-1-4286-4244-7.
Retrieved March 2, 2012.
9. "Complete List of Four Winds Dwarf Citrus Varieties" (http://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/our-citrus-trees/lemon/pri
ncipal-lemon-varieties.html). Fourwindsgrowers.com. Retrieved June 6, 2010.
10. Buchan, Ursula (January 22, 2005). "Kitchen garden: lemon tree" (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/332575
3/Kitchen-garden-lemon-tree.html). The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
11. Vaiegated pink (http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/variegatedpink.html) at the Citrus Variety Collection.
12. "Taste of a thousand lemons" (http://www.latimes.com/features/la-fo-limoncello8sep08,0,771590.story). Los
Angeles Times. September 8, 2004. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
13. "New Zealand Citrus" (http://ceventura.ucdavis.edu/ben/citrus/misc/new_zealand.htm). ceventura.ucdavis.edu.
Retrieved June 13, 2010.
14. Rauf A, Uddin G, Ali J (2014). "Phytochemical analysis and radical scavenging profile of juices of Citrus sinensis,
Citrus anrantifolia, and Citrus limonum" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4091952). Org Med Chem
Lett. 4: 5. doi:10.1186/2191-2858-4-5 (https://doi.org/10.1186%2F2191-2858-4-5). PMC 4091952 (https://www.nc
bi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4091952). PMID 25024932 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25024932).
15. Penniston KL, Nakada SY, Holmes RP, Assimos DG (2008). "Quantitative Assessment of Citric Acid in Lemon
Juice, Lime Juice, and Commercially-Available Fruit Juice Products" (http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.
1089/end.2007.0304) (PDF). Journal of Endourology. 22 (3): 567–570. doi:10.1089/end.2007.0304 (https://doi.or
g/10.1089%2Fend.2007.0304). PMC 2637791 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2637791).
PMID 18290732 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18290732).
16. "Cold Expression" (https://www.doterra.com/US/en/blog/science-research-news-cold-expression). doTerra.
Retrieved July 4, 2019.
17. M. Hofrichter (2010). Industrial Applications (https://books.google.com/books?id=80XBNrGsIywC&pg=PA224).
Springer. p. 224. ISBN 978-3-642-11458-8.
18. Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K.; Graham, J. E.; Malarkey, W. B.; Porter, K; Lemeshow, S; Glaser, R (2008). "Olfactory
influences on mood and autonomic, endocrine, and immune function" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC2278291). Psychoneuroendocrinology. 33 (3): 328–39. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2007.11.015 (https://doi.org/1
0.1016%2Fj.psyneuen.2007.11.015). PMC 2278291 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2278291).
PMID 18178322 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18178322).
19. Cooke, B; Ernst, E (2000). "Aromatherapy: A systematic review" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1
313734). British Journal of General Practice. 50 (455): 493–6. PMC 1313734 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/a
rticles/PMC1313734). PMID 10962794 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10962794).
20. "Lemon Power" (http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/projects/lemon.html). California Energy Commission. Retrieved
December 7, 2014.
21. Mirsky, Steve (April 20, 2010). "Invisible Ink and More: The Science of Spying in the Revolutionary War" (https://w
ww.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/invisible-ink-and-other-science-of-10-04-20/). Scientific American.
Retrieved October 15, 2016.
22. "Citrus" (https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/fruit/citrus). Royal Horticultural Society. 2017. Retrieved
April 19, 2017.
23. "RHS Plantfinder - Citrus × limon 'Meyer' " (https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/29386/i-Citrus-i-×-i-limon-i-Meyer-(F)/De
tails). Retrieved January 30, 2018.
24. "RHS Plantfinder - Citrus × limon 'Variegata' " (https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/90013/i-Citrus-i-×-i-limon-i-Variegata-
(F-v)/Details). Retrieved January 30, 2018.
25. "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf) (PDF). Royal
Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 20. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
26. "World production of lemons and limes in 2017; Crops/Regions/World/Production Quantity from pick lists" (http://w
ww.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Statistics Division
(FAOSTAT). 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
27. Curk, Franck; Ollitrault, Frédérique; Garcia-Lor, Andres; Luro, François; Navarro, Luis; Ollitrault, Patrick (2016).
"Phylogenetic origin of limes and lemons revealed by cytoplasmic and nuclear markers" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/pmc/articles/PMC4817432). Annals of Botany. 11: 565–583. doi:10.1093/aob/mcw005 (https://doi.org/10.109
3%2Faob%2Fmcw005). PMC 4817432 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4817432).

External links
Data related to Citrus × limon at Wikispecies

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