tangerine

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tangerine
Mandarin (Citrus reticulata)

Mandarin ( Citrus reticulata )

Systematics
Rosids
Eurosiden II
Order : Sapindales (Sapindales)
Family : Rhombus family (Rutaceae)
Genre : Citrus plants ( citrus )
Type : tangerine
Scientific name
Citrus reticulata
Blanco
Mandarin trees with ripening fruits

Mandarin ( Citrus reticulata ) refers to both a citrus plant from the rhombus family and the orange-colored fruit of the same.

origin

The origin of the mandarins is believed to be in northeast India or southwest China.

The plants have been cultivated in China for several thousand years, the first reliable mention of the 12th century BC. From the region of origin, the mandarin spread over Southeast Asia and India. Around the 1st millennium AD, the tangerine was already being cultivated in many southern prefectures of Japan.

The first mandarins that were introduced to Europe came to England in 1805 with Sir Abraham Hume from Canton / China ("Canton Orange"). The “Mediterranean” mandarin later developed from one of these first two varieties.

Tangerine-like

Relationships of the mandarin

Clementines are almost seedless citrus fruits that were created as hybrids between orange or bitter orange and mandarins. They are differentiated from the tangerine both botanically and scientifically. Another closely related fruit is the tangerine . There is also minneola , a cross between tangerine and grapefruit, and the tangor (also Ortanique), a hybrid of tangerine and orange, which is also known as tangerine in the trade.

The orange itself is the result of a cross between a mandarin and a grapefruit .

description

Mandarins are the most variable and largest group of citrus plants in terms of shape, size, taste of the fruit and the habit of the plants. They are usually small, evergreen trees . The branches are covered with only a few, small thorns. The leaves are lanceolate, tapering on both sides. The petiole is only indistinctly separated from the leaf blade, the wings on the petiole are only recognizable as a narrow line. The leaf margins are indistinctly notched.

The flowers are solitary or in little flowered inflorescences in the leaf axils. The sepals are fused, the five white petals free. The 20 to 25 stamens are fused together in several groups. The stylus is long and narrow.

The fruits ( hesperidia ) of the mandarine are much smaller than oranges , they taste less sour than the orange and have an unmistakable, intense, complex aroma. Compared to other citrus fruits, their skin is easier to peel off, and it is also particularly easy to divide into segments that are dry on the outside, making them easy to peel and eat with your fingers. Each fruit consists of about ten segments that are filled with orange juice sacs . Each segment is surrounded by a thin membrane ( endocarp ), the whole fruit by a two-part shell. The inner layer of the shell is white ( mesocarp , albedo), the outer green to orange ( exocarp , flavedo). When ripe, the white layer is reduced to a network of fibers, which is what the scientific name "reticulata" = network-like refers to. The seeds are oval, round at one end and pointed at the other. Inside they are green. Much of the seeds are polyembryonic.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 18, rarely 36.

Economical meaning

In 2018, 34.4 million tons of mandarins, clementines, satsumas and tangerines were produced worldwide. Europe produced 3.0 million t in the same period. The largest producers were Spain, Italy and Greece.

The ten largest producers in the world together generated 83.9% of the total harvest in 2018.

Largest mandarins producers (2018)
rank country Quantity
(in t )
1 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 19,035,444
2 SpainSpain Spain 1,978,581
3 TurkeyTurkey Turkey 1,650,000
4th MoroccoMorocco Morocco 1,208,789
5 EgyptEgypt Egypt 1,068,351
6th BrazilBrazil Brazil 996.872
7th United StatesUnited States United States 804.670
8th JapanJapan Japan 773,700
9 ItalyItaly Italy 773,700
10 Korea SouthSouth Korea South Korea 646.218
world 34,393,431

use

Food

Mandarins at the fruit seller
Canned mandarins

Mandarins are mainly harvested in autumn and are usually sold in the fruit shops and departments between October and January.

ingredients
100 g mandarin contain:
Calorific value water fat potassium Calcium magnesium vitamin C
224  kJ (54  kcal ) 85.3 g 0.3 g 150 mg 33 mg 11 mg 30 mg

Peeled and sugared tangerine honeycombs are available all year round. The shell is not removed by hand or by machine, but is etched in a bath of dilute hydrochloric acid . This one-hour process is harmless as it mimics the digestive process of the human stomach , which also contains hydrochloric acid. In another bath in caustic soda, the skin of the individual mandarins loosens. Then they are rinsed with water and canned together with a sugar solution that has the same sugar content as the mandarins.

Mandarine extracts are widely used in soft drinks . Pure mandarin juice is also offered in juice bars and supermarkets .

Mandarin essential oil

Mandarin oil is obtained by cold pressing the peel. The pods of 2 to 3 kg of fruit are required to produce one milliliter . A distinction is made between green and red mandarin oil, each of which has its own fragrance characteristic. The tart green mandarin oil is obtained from the still unripe fruits, the sweeter red mandarin oil from the ripe fruits. Both consist of approx. 85–95% monoterpenes , monoterpenols, aldehydes and esters . Since the oil glands of the mandarins are in the skin, they are exposed to pesticides and fungicides in conventional cultivation, which can get into the oil when pressed.

literature

  • W. Reuther, HJ Webber, LD Batchelor (Eds.): The Citrus Industry. Vol. 1 & 2. University of California Press, Berkley 1967.
  • Carsten Schirarend: The golden apples. Sponsorship group d. natural science. Museums Berlins eV, Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-926579-05-6 .
  • Bernhard Voß: Citrus plants from tropical to hardy. Humbach & Nemazal, Pfaffenhofen 1997, ISBN 3-9805521-3-6 .
  • Friedrich J. Zeller: Origin, diversity and breeding of the banana and cultivated citrus species. Kassel 2005, ISBN 3-89958-116-4 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Mandarine  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Commons : Mandarine ( Citrus reticulata )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. See Duden online: Mandarine
  2. Werner Rüdenberg, Hans O. Stange: Chinese-German Dictionary , 3rd, extended edition 1963, p. 200, right column, 2nd SZ from the bottom: 廣 1 橘 , Guǎngjú
  3. E. Nicolosi et al. a .: Citrus phylogeny and genetic origin of important species as investigated by molecular markers. in: Theoretical and Applied Genetics. Heidelberg 100.2004.8, 1155-1166. ISSN  0040-5752
  4. Minneola
  5. Susanne Gerhard: Mandarinen & Co. - Sparkling, sweet and juicy , on ugb.de
  6. Citrus reticulata at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
  7. a b c Crops> Tangerines, mandarins, clementines, satsumas. In: FAO production statistics for 2018. fao.org, accessed on March 13, 2020 .
  8. ernicherung.de. Retrieved January 7, 2017 .
  9. Quality defects in TCM drugs. In: Pharmazeutische Zeitung 43/2004 , accessed on February 10, 2016.