A tree of a genus that includes citron, lemon, lime, orange, and grapefruit. Native to Asia, citrus trees are widely cultivated in warm countries for their fruit, which has juicy flesh and a pulpy rind. • Genus Citrus, family Rutaceae.
Citrus fruit grow in tropical and sub tropical regions of the world. The best know citrus fruit are oranges, lemons, grapefruit, Mandarins, clementines and limes. Funky Stock has collections with stock photos of all these fruits plus photos of the less well citrus fruit, kumquats and pomelos.
Citrus fruit skin is also high in essential oils which are removed to be used in flavorings or as fragrant essences in aromatherapy oils, cosmetics and soaps.
Citrus fruits are high in vitamin C and were used by the sailors of sailing ships to avoid scurvy which was caused by vitamin C deficiency common on long voyages with no fresh foods available. As the British acquired the nick name "limeys" it looks like limes were the preferred citrus fruit of British sailors.
The acidity of lemons is also a good remedy for the alkaline bee sting and few drops of lime are squeezed by martial artists into the corner of their eyes to help their vision.
The pomelo (Citrus maxima or Citrus grandis) is a citrus fruit native to South East Asia. It is usually pale green to yellow when ripe, with very thick pithy rind. It is the largest citrus fruit, 15–25 cm in diameter, and usually weighing 1–2 kg. Other spellings for pomelo include pummelo, and pomelo, and other names include Chinese grapefruit, jabong, lusho fruit, pompelmous,[2] Papanas, and shaddock.[3] Pomelos are also referred to as chakotara in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. The pomelo taste like a sweet grapefruit. In the Phillapeans the fruit is cut into segments and dipped in salt before eating. In Thailand segments are also dipped in chili to eat.
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Lime is a term referring to a number of different fruits, both species and hybrids, citruses, which have their origin in the Himalayan region of India and which are typically round, green to yellow in color, 3–6 cm in diameter, and containing sour and acidic pulp. Limes are often used to accent the flavours of foods and beverages. They are usually smaller than lemons, and a source of vitamin C. Limes are grown all year round and are usually sweeter than lemons.
Limes are a small citrus fruit, Citrus aurantifolia, whose skin and flesh are green in colour and which have an oval or round shape with a diameter between one to two inches. Limes can either be sour or sweet, with the latter not readily available in the United States. Sour limes possess a greater sugar and citric acid content than lemons and feature an acidic and tart taste, while sweet limes lack citric acid content and are sweet in flavour.
The grapefruit (Citrus × paradisi), is a subtropical citrus tree known for its bitter fruit, an 18th-century hybrid first bred in Barbados. When found it was named the "forbidden fruit".
The fruit has become popular since the late 19th century; before that it was only grown as an ornamental plant. The United States quickly became a major producer of the fruit, with orchards in Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California. In Spanish, the fruit is known as toronja.
The Red grapefruit, starting with the Ruby Red, has even become a symbolic fruit of Texas, where white "inferior" grapefruit were eliminated and only red grapefruit were grown for decades. Using radiation to trigger mutations, new varieties were developed to retain the red tones which typically faded to pink, the Rio Red variety is the current (2007) Texas grapefruit with registered trademarks Rio Star and Ruby-Sweet, also sometimes promoted as "Reddest" and "Texas Choice".
Kumquats or cumquats are a group of small fruit-bearing trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, either forming the genus Fortunella, or placed within Citrus sensu lato. The edible fruit closely resembles that of the orange (Citrus sinensis), but is much smaller and ovular, being approximately the size and shape of an olive.
