Mandarin orange

The mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata), also known as the mandarin or mandarine, is a small citrus tree with fruit resembling other oranges. Mandarin oranges are usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. Specifically reddish-orange mandarin cultivars can be marketed as tangerines, but this is not a botanical classification.

The tree is more drought-tolerant than the fruit. The mandarin is tender and is damaged easily by cold. It can be grown in tropical and subtropical areas.

According to molecular studies,^[1] the mandarin, the citron, the pomelo, and the papeda were the ancestors of all other citrus species and their varieties, through breeding or natural hybridization; mandarins are therefore all the more important as the only sweet fruit among the parental species.

Genetics

See also Citrus taxonomy.

Mandarins are one of the four core ancestral citrus taxa, and are thought to have evolved in Vietnam, southern China, and Japan.^[2]

Pure mandarins seem to divide into two groups; an edible group, including the Nanfengmiju, and an "acidic" group, which is too sour to be edible but which is widely used as rootstock and grown for juice; this includes Sunki, Shekwasha, and Cleopatra mandarins.^[3]

Under the Tanaka classification system, mikans/satsumas and tangerines are considered to be two species: Citrus unshiu and Citrus tangerina. Under the Swingle system, unshius and tangerines are considered to be groups of mandarin varieties.^[3] Unshius and tangerines genetically resemble mandarins,^[3] but the genetics are still not throughly studied.

Like all citrus fruit, mandarins hybridize readily with other citrus. Many fruit sold as mandarins are in fact hybrids with some pummelo (C. maxima) ancestry, and are thus on a continumn with clementines, sweet and sour oranges, and grapefruit.^[2]

Hybrids between mandarins and other citrus fruits are sold under a variety of names; see below.

Varieties

Cultivars and crosses between the original mandarin and other citrus fruits include:

Pure mandarins

• Nanfengmiju (Citrus reticulata Blanco^[4]) A rare non-hybrid citrus.^[2] One of the most widely cultivated varieties in China.^[5]
• Cleopatra mandarin
• Shekwasha, a very sour mandarin grown for its acidic juice.
• Sunki
• ? Dancy; also known as the zipper-skin tangerine,^[6] it may be a pure mandarin.^[7]

Unknown

• Satsuma (Citrus unshiu), a seedless variety, of which there are over 200 cultivars, including Wenzhou migana, Owari, and mikan; the source of most canned mandarins, and popular as a fresh fruit due to its ease of consumption
  • Owari, a well-known Satsuma cultivar that ripens during the late fall season
• Tangerine (Citrus tangerina)^[8]
• Yuukou mandarin - a yellow Japanese citrus found in the wild

Hybrids with mandarin ancestry

• Clementine, (Citrus ×clementina), a hybrid between a mandarin orange and a sweet orange,^[9] so named in 1902;^[10] sometimes known as a "Thanksgiving Orange" or "Christmas orange", as its peak season is winter; becoming the most important commercial mandarin orange form, having displaced mikans in many markets
  • Clemenules or Nules, a variety of Clementine named for the Valencian town where it was first bred in 1953; it is the most popular variety of Clementine grown in Spain.^[11]
• Huanglingmiao, a mandarin × pumelo hybrid^[12][13]
• Kinnow (see image).
• The Ponkan, a mandarin × pumelo hybrid^[2][9]
• Meyer lemon, a mandarin × lemon hybrid.
• Rangpur, a different mandarin × lemon hybrid.
• Tangor, also called the temple orange, a cross between the mandarin orange and the common sweet orange;^[12] its thick rind is easy to peel and its bright orange pulp is sour-sweet and full-flavored
  • Murcott, a mandarin × sweet orange hybrid.^[9][14]
    • Tango is a proprietary ~seedless mid-late season irradiated selection of murcott developed by the University of California Citrus Breeding Program.^[15]
• Mediterranean/Willowleaf/Thorny (Citrus ×deliciosa), a mandarin × pumelo hybrid^[9]

Non-mandarins

• Mangshanyegans, long thought to be mandarins, are in fact a separate species.^[12]

Canning

Canned mandarin segments are peeled to remove the white pith prior to canning; otherwise, they turn bitter. Segments are peeled using a chemical process. First, the segments are scalded in hot water to loosen the skin; then they are bathed in a lye solution, which digests the albedo and membranes. Finally, the segments undergo several rinses in plain water.

Biological characteristics

Citrus fruits are usually self-fertile (needing only a bee to move pollen within the same flower) or parthenocarpic (not needing pollination and therefore seedless, such as the satsuma).

Blossoms from the Dancy cultivar are one exception. They are self-sterile, and therefore must have a pollinator variety to supply pollen, and a high bee population to make a good crop. The fruit is oblate.

Raw mandarine has 53 calories from 13g of carbs,0.31g of fat and 1g of protein.^[16]

Medicinal uses

In traditional Chinese medicine, the dried peel of the fruit is used in the regulation of ch'i, and also used to treat abdominal distension, to enhance digestion, and to reduce phlegm.^[17] Mandarins have also been used in ayurveda (traditional medicine of India).^[18]

Production volume

Tangerines, mandarins, clementines, satsumas Top 20 producers in 2011 (1000 tonnes)
People's Republic of China	12,482
Spain	2,117
Brazil	1,005
Japan	928
Turkey	872
Italy	853
Egypt	848
Iran	800
Morocco	753
South Korea	681
United States	596
Pakistan	515
Mexico	406
Argentina	401
Thailand	360
Peru	236
Algeria	218
Taiwan	197
Nepal	179
Maldives	152
All other	1,582
World total	26,030
Source: UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO),[19]

The "Clemenules" (or "Nules" accounts for the great majority of clementines produced in the world. Spain alone has over 200,000 acres (800 km²), producing fruit between November and January. Mandarins marketed as tangerines are usually Dancy, Sunburst or Murcott (Honey) cultivars.

Cultural significance

During Chinese New Year, mandarin oranges and tangerines are considered traditional symbols of abundance and good fortune. During the two-week celebration, they are frequently displayed as decoration and presented as gifts to friends, relatives, and business associates.

Mandarin oranges, particularly Satsumas from Japan, are a Christmas tradition in Canada, as well as the United States and Russia. They are commonly purchased in 5- or 10-pound boxes, individually wrapped in soft green paper, and given in Christmas stockings. This custom goes back to the 1880s, when Japanese immigrants in the United States began receiving Japanese mandarin oranges from their families back home as gifts for the New Year. The tradition quickly spread among the non-Japanese population, and eastwards across the country: each November harvest, "The oranges were quickly unloaded and then shipped east by rail. 'Orange Trains' – trains with boxcars painted orange – alerted everyone along the way that the irresistible oranges from Japan were back again for the holidays. For many, the arrival of Japanese mandarin oranges signaled the real beginning of the holiday season."^[20]

This Japanese tradition merged with European traditions related to the Christmas stocking. Saint Nicholas is said to have put gold coins into the stockings of three poor girls so that they would be able to afford to get married.^[21] Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags of gold, and oranges became a symbolic stand-in for these gold balls, and are put in Christmas stockings in Canada^[21][22] along with chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil.

In the United States, importation of these Japanese oranges was suspended due to hostilities with Japan during World War II.^[20] While they were one of the first Japanese goods allowed for export after the end of the war, residual hostility led to the rebranding of these oranges as "mandarin" oranges.^[20]

The delivery of the first batch of mandarin oranges from Japan in the port of Vancouver, British Columbia, is greeted with a festival that combines Santa Claus and Japanese dancers^[22]—young girls dressed in traditional kimonos.^[23]

See also

• Fairchild tangerine
• Ju Song - In Praise of the Orange-Tree
• Mandelo
• Tangelo

References

Notes

External links

• Media related to Citrus reticulata at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Citrus reticulata at Wikispecies
• Mandarin Orange Nutrition Facts
• UC Riverside Mandarin Variety Descriptions
• Mandarin Orange - from Morton, J. (1987) Fruits of Warm Climates

Citrus True Species Citron Citrus subg. Papeda Indian wild orange Mandarin Pomelo Major hybrids Grapefruit Lemon Lime Orange True & hybrid cultivars Alemow Amanatsu Australian outback lime Balady citron Banpeiyu Bergamot orange Bizzaria Bitter orange Blood orange Brown River finger lime Cara cara navel orange Cherry orange Citrange Citrumelo Clementine Corsican citron Daidai Dekopon Desert lime Diamante citron Fairchild tangerine Finger lime Fingered citron Florentine citron Greek citron Green orange Hassaku orange Hebesu Hyuganatsu Ichang Papeda Imperial lemon Iyokan Jabara Jaffa orange Kabosu Kakadu lime Kaffir lime Kalpi Key lime Khasi papeda Kinnow Kiyomi Laraha Limetta Lumia Mandelo Melanesian papeda Melogold Meyer lemon Moroccan citron Mount white lime (microcitrus) Mountain citron Myrtle-leaved orange tree Naartjie/Satsuma New Guinea wild lime Odorless lime Ōgonkan Orangelo/Chironja Oroblanco Palestinian sweet lime Persian lime Pixie mandarin Ponderosa lemon Ponkan Rangpur Reikou Rhobs el Arsa Rough lemon Round lime Sakurajima komikan orange Samuyao Sanboken Shangjuan Shiikwaasaa Shonan Gold Sour orange Sudachi Sweet lemon Tangelo Tangerine Tangor Trifoliate orange Ugli fruit Valencia orange Wild lime Winged lime Xã Đoài orange Yemenite citron Yuukou mandarin Yuzu Fortunella & Citrofortunella Kumquat (a true Fortunella) Calamondin Citrangequat Limequat Orangequat Procimequat Sunquat Yuzuquat Related genera Clymenia Eremocitrus Microcitrus Poncirus Triphasia (Brassii, Grandifolia, Trifolia) Citrus drinks Chūhai Curaçao (liqueur) Grapefruit juice Lemonade Limeade Orange juice Yuja hwachae Yujacha Citrus products Calcium citrate Citric acid Lemonene Limonene Neroli Orange flower water Orange oil Succade Zest Citrus topics Citrus Experiment Station Citrus hybrids Citrus ID Citrus Industry Citrus production Citrus rootstock Citrus taxonomy Citrus Variety Collection Cold hardy citrus Hesperidium Japanese citrus Mother Orange Tree Orangery Citrus diseases Black spot CTV/Tristeza Exocortis Greening Mal secco Phytophthora (citricola) and more... Book:Citrus Category:Citrus