A mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata), often simply called mandarin, is a small, rounded citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. The mandarin is small and oblate, unlike the roughly spherical sweet orange (which is a mandarin-pomelo hybrid). The taste is sweeter and stronger than the common orange. A ripe mandarin orange is firm to slightly soft, heavy for its size, and pebbly-skinned. The peel is thin and loose, with little white mesocarp, so they are usually easier to peel and to split into segments. Hybrids have these traits to lesser degrees. The mandarin orange is tender and is damaged easily by cold. It can be grown in tropical and subtropical areas.
| Mandarin orange | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Rutaceae |
| Genus: | Citrus |
| Species: | C. reticulata
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| Binomial name | |
| Citrus reticulata Blanco, 1837
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According to genetic studies, the wild mandarin was one of the original citrus species; through breeding or natural hybridization, it is the ancestor of many hybrid citrus cultivars. With the citron and pomelo, it is the ancestor of the most commercially important hybrids (such as sweet and sour oranges, grapefruit, and many lemons and limes). Though the ancestral mandarin orange was bitter, most commercial mandarin strains derive from hybridization with the pomelo, which gives them sweet fruit.
Etymology
editThe name mandarin orange is a calque of Swedish mandarin apelsin [apelsin from German Apfelsine (Apfel + Sina), meaning Chinese apple], first attested in the 18th century. The Imperial Chinese term "mandarine" was first adopted by the French for this fruit. The reason for the epithet is not clear.[1]
Citrus reticulata is from Latin, where reticulata means "netted".[2]
Description
editTree
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Citrus reticulata is a moderate-sized tree some 7.6 metres (25 ft) in height.[3][2] The tree trunk and major branches have thorns.[3] The leaves are shiny, green, and rather small.[3] The petioles are short, almost wingless or slightly winged.[3] The flowers are borne singly or in small groups in the leaf-axils.[3] Citrus 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). A mature mandarin tree can yield up to 79 kilograms (175 lb) of fruit.[4]
Fruit
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Mandarin orange fruits are small 40–80 millimetres (1.6–3.1 in).[3] Their color is orange, yellow-orange, or red-orange.[5] The skin is thin and peels off easily.[3] Their easiness to peel is an important advantage of mandarin oranges over other citrus fruits.[5] Just like with other citrus fruits, mandarin is separated easily from the segments.[3] The fruits may be seedless or contain a small number of seeds. Though the ancestral mandarin orange was bitter, most commercial mandarin strains derive from hybridization with pomelo, which gives them sweet fruit.[6] They can be eaten as whole or squeezed to make juice.[3][5] A ripe mandarin orange is firm to slightly soft, heavy for its size, and pebbly-skinned. The peel is thin and loose, with little white mesocarp, so they are easy to peel and to split into segments.[7]
Taxonomy
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The wild mandarin is one of the pure ancestral citrus taxa; they evolved in a restricted region of South China and Vietnam.[9][10][6] Mandarins appear to have been domesticated at least twice, in the north and south Nanling Mountains, derived from separate wild subspecies. Wild mandarins are still found there, including Daoxian mandarines (sometimes given the species name Citrus daoxianensis) as well as some members of the group traditionally called 'Mangshan wild mandarins', a generic grouping for the wild mandarin-like fruit of the Mangshan area that includes both true mandarins (mangshanyeju,[11] the southern subspecies) and the genetically distinct and only distantly-related Mangshanyegan. The wild mandarins were found free of the introgressed pomelo (C. maxima) DNA found in domestic mandarins. Still, they did appear to have small amounts (~1.8%) of introgression from the ichang papeda, which grows wild in the same region.[12]
The Nanling Mountains are home to northern and southern genetic clusters of domestic mandarins that have similar levels of sugars in the fruit compared to their wild relatives but appreciably (in some almost 90-fold) lower levels of citric acid. The clusters display different patterns of pomelo introgression, have different deduced historical population histories, and are most closely related to distinct wild mandarins, suggesting two independent domestications in the north and south.[12] All tested domesticated cultivars were found to belong to one of these two genetic clusters, with varieties such as Nanfengmiju, Kishu and Satsuma deriving from the northern domestication event producing larger, redder fruit, while Willowleaf, Dancy, Sunki, Cleopatra, King, Ponkan, and others derived from the smaller, yellower-fruited southern cluster.[12]
The Tanaka classification system divided domestic mandarins and similar fruit into numerous species, giving distinct names to cultivars such as willowleaf mandarins (C. deliciosa), satsumas (C. unshiu), tangerines (C. tangerina). Under the Swingle system, all these are considered to be varieties of a single species, Citrus reticulata.[13] Hodgson represented them as several subgroups: common (C. reticulata), Satsuma, King (C. nobilis), Mediterranean (willowleaf), small-fruited (C. indica, C. tachibana and C. reshni), and mandarin hybrids.[14] In the genomic-based species taxonomy of Ollitrault et al., only pure wild type mandarins would fall under C. reticulata, while the pomelo admixture found in the majority of mandarins would cause them to be classified as varieties of the hybrid bitter orange, C. aurantium.[15]
Genetic analysis is consistent with continental mandarins representing a single species, with much of the variation within mandarins being due to hybridization.[8] A separate species, Citrus ryukyuensis that diverged from the mainland species between 2 and 3 million years ago when cut off by rising sea levals was found growing on the island of Okinawa, and its natural and agricultural hybridization with the mainland mandarin species has produced some of the unique island mandarin cultivars of Japan and Taiwan, such as the Tachibana orange,[11] previously classified as a subspecies of pure mandarin[8] before its parent was identified, and the Shekwasha.[11] Some of the small number of cultivars were found to be pure in initial gemonic analysis, including Sun Chu Sha[10][8] and Nanfengmiju,[16] but Wang detected in them not only an apparent Ichang papeda introgression found in all examined mandarins but also the distinct pomelo DNA of the domesticated mandarins.[12] Following initial hybridization, natural or cultivated backcrosses of the initial mandarin-pomelo hybrids with the mandarin stock produced mandarins with limited pomelo contribution,[8] that differed between the northern and southern domesticates.[12] An 'acidic' group of cultivars including Sunki and Cleopatra mandarins that likewise previously were thought to be pure but since found to contain small regions of introgressed pomelo DNA are too sour to be edible, but are widely used as rootstock and grown for juice.[13][8] Another group of mandarins, including some tangerines, Satsuma and King mandarins, show a greater pomelo contribution and derive from the limited-pomelo hybrids being crossed again, with sweet orange or pomelo, and likewise backcrossing in some cases, producing cultivars with moderate to high levels of pomelo introgression.[8] Hybrid mandarins thus fall on a continuum of increasing pomelo contribution with clementines, sweet and sour oranges, and grapefruit.[10][17][8]
Production
editIn 2022, world production of mandarin oranges (combined with tangerines, clementines, and satsumas in reporting to FAOSTAT) was 44.2 million tonnes, led by China with 61% of the global total.[18] Spain produced 1.8 million tonnes in 2022, with Turkey, Egypt, and Morocco as other significant producers.[18]
Uses
editNutrition
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| Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 223 kJ (53 kcal) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13.34 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sugars | 10.58 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dietary fibre | 1.8 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
0.31 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
0.81 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Other constituents | Quantity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Water | 85.2 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| †Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[19] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[20] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A mandarin orange contains 85% water, 13% carbohydrates, and negligible amounts of fat and protein (table). Among micronutrients, only vitamin C is in significant content (32% of the Daily Value) in a 100-gram reference serving, with all other nutrients in low amounts.
Culinary
editMandarins have a stronger and sweeter taste than sweet oranges.[5] Mandarins are peeled and eaten fresh or used in salads, desserts and main dishes.[3] Fresh mandarins are used in the production of the liqueur Mandarine Napoléon.[21]
The peel is used fresh, whole or as zest, or dried as chenpi. It can be used as a spice for cooking, baking, drinks, or candy. Essential oil from the fresh peel may be used as a flavouring for candy, in gelatins, ice cream, chewing gum, and baked goods.[3] It is used as a flavouring in some liqueurs.[3]
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Dried mandarin peel used as a seasoning -
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Mandarins in a fresh fruit salad -
Chocolate flavoured with Mandarine Napoléon
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Cultural significance
editIn North America, mandarins are commonly purchased in 5- or 10-pound boxes,[5] individually wrapped in soft green paper, and given in Christmas stockings. This custom goes back to the 1880s when Japanese immigrants in Canada and the United States began receiving Japanese mandarin oranges from their families back home as gifts for the New Year. The tradition spread among the non-Japanese population and eastwards across the country: each November harvest, "The oranges were quickly unloaded and 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 signalled the beginning of the holiday season."[22] Satsumas were grown in the United States from the early 1900s. Still, Japan remained a major supplier.[23] U.S. imports of these Japanese oranges was suspended due to hostilities with Japan during World War II.[22] 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 instead of "Japanese" oranges.[22] The delivery of the first batch of mandarin oranges from Japan in the port of Vancouver is greeted with a festival that combines Santa Claus and Japanese dancers[24]—young girls dressed in traditional kimono.[25] Historically, the Christmas fruit sold in North America was mostly Dancys, but now it is more often a hybrid.[26] 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.[27] 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.[27][24] Their use as Christmas gifts probably spread from the Japanese immigrant community.[28] Mandarin oranges are mentioned in Sinclair Ross' 1942 novel, As for Me and My House, and his 1939 short story, Cornet at Night.[29]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ De La Cruz-Cabanillas, Isabel (1 January 2008). "Chinese loanwords in the OED". The Free Library. Farlex, Inc. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
- ^ a b "Citrus reticulata 'Clementine'". Plant Finder. Missouri Botanical Garden. 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Morton, Julia F. (1987). "Mandarin orange; In: Fruits of Warm Climates, p. 142–145". New Crop Resource Online Program. Center for New Crops and Plant Products, Purdue University. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ^ "Tango mandarin; Citrus reticulata Blanco". Citrus Variety Collection. College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of California Riverside. 2010. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Karp, David (3 February 2016). "Mandarin oranges, rising stars of the fruit bowl". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
- ^ a b Wang, Lun; He, Fa; Huang, Yue; He, Jiaxian; Yang, Shuizhi; et al. (August 2018). "Genome of Wild Mandarin and Domestication History of Mandarin". Molecular Plant. 11 (8): 1024–1037. doi:10.1016/j.molp.2018.06.001. PMID 29885473.
- ^ Karp, David (13 March 2014). "Market watch: The wild and elusive Dancy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wu, Guohong Albert; Terol, Javier; Ibanez, Victoria; López-García, Antonio; Pérez-Román, Estela; Borredá, Carles; et al. (2018). "Genomics of the origin and evolution of Citrus". Nature. 554 (7692): 311–316. Bibcode:2018Natur.554..311W. doi:10.1038/nature25447. hdl:20.500.11939/5741. PMID 29414943. and Supplement
- ^ Fuller, Dorian Q.; Castillo, Cristina; Kingwell-Banham, Eleanor; Qin, Ling; Weisskopf, Alison (2017). "Charred pomelo peel, historical linguistics and other tree crops: approaches to framing the historical context of early Citrus cultivation in East, South and Southeast Asia". In Zech-Matterne, Véronique; Fiorentino, Girolamo (eds.). AGRUMED: Archaeology and history of citrus fruit in the Mediterranean (PDF). Publications du Centre Jean Bérard. pp. 29–48. doi:10.4000/books.pcjb.2107. ISBN 9782918887775.
- ^ a b c Curk, Franck; Ancillo, Gema; Garcia-Lor, Andres; Luro, François; Perrier, Xavier; Jacquemoud-Collet, Jean-Pierre; Navarro, Luis; Ollitrault, Patrick (2014). "Next generation haplotyping to decipher nuclear genomic interspecific admixture in Citrus species: analysis of chromosome 2". BMC Genetics. 15: 152. doi:10.1186/s12863-014-0152-1. PMC 4302129. PMID 25544367.
- ^ a b c Wu, Guohong Albert; Sugimoto, Chikatoshi; Kinjo, Hideyasu; Asama, Chika; Mitsube, Fumimasa; Talon, Manuel; Gmitter, Grederick G Jr; Rokhsar, Daniel S (2021). "Diversification of mandarin citrus by hybrid speciation and apomixis". Nature Communications. 12 (1): 4377. Bibcode:2021NatCo..12.4377W. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-24653-0. PMC 8313541. PMID 34312382. and Supplement
- ^ a b c d e Wang, Lun; et al. (2018). "Genome of Wild Mandarin and Domestication History of Mandarin". Molecular Plant. 11 (8): 1024–1037. doi:10.1016/j.molp.2018.06.001. PMID 29885473.
- ^ a b Froelicher, Yann; Mouhaya, Wafa; Bassene, Jean-Baptiste; Costantino, Gilles; Kamiri, Mourad; Luro, Francois; Morillon, Raphael; Ollitrault, Patrick (2011). "New universal mitochondrial PCR markers reveal new information on maternal citrus phylogeny". Tree Genetics & Genomes. 7: 49–61. doi:10.1007/s11295-010-0314-x. S2CID 32371305.
- ^ Goldenberg, Livnat; Yaniv, Yossi; Porat, Ron; Carmi, Nir (2018). "Mandarin fruit quality: a review". Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 98 (1): 18–26. Bibcode:2018JSFA...98...18G. doi:10.1002/jsfa.8495. PMID 28631804.
- ^ Ollitrault, Patrick; Curk, Franck; Krueger, Robert (2020). "Citrus taxonomy". The Genus Citrus. Elsevier. pp. 57–81. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-812163-4.00004-8. ISBN 978-0-12-812163-4. S2CID 242819146. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
- ^ Karp, David (13 January 2010). "The Seedless Kishu, a small but mighty mandarin". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ Klein, Joshua D. (2014). "Citron Cultivation, Production and Uses in the Mediterranean Region". Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the Middle-East. Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the World. Vol. 2. pp. 199–214. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9276-9_10. ISBN 978-94-017-9275-2.
- ^ a b "Mandarin orange production in 2022 (includes tangerines, clementines, and satsumas) from pick lists: World regions/Production quantity/Crops/Year". FAOSTAT, United Nations Corporate Statistical Database. 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
- ^ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". FDA. Archived from the original on 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
- ^ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). ISBN 978-0-309-48834-1. PMID 30844154. Archived from the original on 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
- ^ "Mandarine Napoléon - History". Mandarine Napoléon. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
- ^ a b c "Information on This Week's Product: Mandarin Oranges" (PDF). BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ Andersen, Peter C.; Ferguson, James J. (19 November 2014). "The Satsuma Mandarin". Electronic Data Information Source. IFAS Extension, University of Florida. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ^ a b Marion, Paul (19 December 2010). "Oranges at Christmas". Richard Howe; Lowell Politics and Lowell History. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- ^ "Christmas Stockings". Christmas Traditions in France and in Canada. Ministère de la culture et de la communication de France. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- ^ "Ark of Taste, Dancy Tangerine, Citrus Tangerina v. Dancy". Slow Food USA. 2014. Archived from the original on 12 July 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ a b "Personalized Christmas Stockings". Stocking Factory. 4 October 2008. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- ^ "CPW Celebrates 20 Years of Churchill Orchard's Kishu Mandarin Magic". Co-op Partners Warehouse. 24 January 2024. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
- ^ Boyd, Shelley; Cooke, Nathalie; Moyer, Alexia (2020-02-01). "A literary history of the Mandarin orange in Canada". Gastronomica. 20 (1): 83–89. doi:10.1525/gfc.2020.20.1.83.
External links
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