Lemon

Lemon external surface and cross-section

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 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]

Detailed taxonomic illustration by Franz Eugen Köhler.

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]

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.

Lemons contain numerous phytochemicals, including polyphenols, terpenes, and tannins.[14] Lemon juice contains slightly more citric acid than lime juice (about 47 g/l), nearly twice the citric acid of grapefruit juice, and about five times the amount of citric acid found in orange juice.[15]

Lemon juice, rind, and peel are used in a wide variety of foods and drinks. The whole lemon is used to make marmalade, lemon curd and lemon liqueur. Lemon slices and lemon rind are used as a garnish for food and drinks. Lemon zest, the grated outer rind of the fruit, is used to add flavor to baked goods, puddings, rice, and other dishes.

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]

Lemon (and lime) production, 2018 (in millions of tonnes)
Country	2018
India	3.1
Mexico	2.5
China	2.5
Argentina	2.0
Brazil	1.5
Turkey	1.1
World	19.4

In 2018, world production of lemons (combined with limes for reporting) was 19.4 million tonnes.[26] The top producers – India, Mexico, China, Argentina, Brazil, and Turkey – collectively accounted for 65% of global production (table).[26]

Many plants taste or smell similar to lemons.

• Limes, another common sour citrus fruit, used similarly to lemons
  • Kaffir lime leaves: common in east Asian cuisine
• Certain cultivars of basil
• Sumac fruits, were used long before lemons where known to Europeans
• Cymbopogon (lemongrass)
• Lemon balm, a mint-like herbaceous perennial in the family Lamiaceae
• Two varieties of scented geranium: Pelargonium crispum (lemon geranium) and Pelargonium x melissinum (lemon balm)
• Lemon thyme[27]
• Lemon verbena
• Certain cultivars of mint
• Magnolia grandiflora tree flowers

• Flat lemon, a mandarin hybrid
• Meyer lemon, a cross between a citron and a mandarin/pomelo hybrid distinct from sour or sweet orange,[28] named after Frank N. Meyer, who first introduced 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.[28]
• Rough lemon, a citron-mandarin cross, cold-hardy and often used as a citrus rootstock[28]
• 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.[28]
• Volkamer lemon, like the rough lemon, a citron-mandarin cross[28]

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  Flower
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  Lemon seedling
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  Mature lemons
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  Full-sized tree
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  Variegated pink lemon

• List of lemon dishes and beverages
• Food portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Citrus × limon.

• Data related to Citrus × limon at Wikispecies

Look up lemon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.