The Book I am Working on

 So I started to write  book on Citrus fruit.

Below is the introduction to the book, in fact its the first bit that I have so far written. I am sure that it will change a lot as time goes by, enjoy.

Hey you lost reader !

If you found yourself reading this and want to make a comment then please do so.

Citrus Introduction

Citrus is the name of a group of trees and shrubs which belong to the Rue family of plants. 

The four original citrus species pomelo, citron, mandarin, and papeda), from which the rest of cultivated citrus hybridized. In particular, the common orange and the grapefruit are assumed to be natural occurring hybrids between the pomelo and the mandarin, with the pomelo providing the bigger size and greater firmness. Some of the more common citrus fruits are:

Oranges, Grapefruits, Lemons, Mandarins, Clementines, Satsumas, Tangelos, Tangerines, Tangors, kumquats, Bitter Orange, Limes, Citrons, Pomelos & Bergamots.

Citrus trees grow wild in parts of India and also south-eastern Asia.  The Chinese appear to have been the first to cultivate Citrus trees, more than 4,000 years ago.  These trees and shrubs have been grown in other parts of the world for their Citrus fruits for many years e.g. 1000 odd years or more. 

Citrus trees are thorny, but usually attractive.  They are evergreen, with long, shiny, pointed leaves.  The flowers are fragrant ripe citrus fruits may be green or yellow to orange-red in colour.  All Citrus fruits are a type of Berry that scientists call a Hesperidium (And no I don’t have a clue what this means); Actually I have now looked it up and most of the sources that I looked up say this sort of thing;

“Hesperidium, is a berry with a leathery rind. The exocarp (this is the peel) contains volatile oil glands (essential oils) in pits. The fleshy interior (or its more proper name the endocarp) is composed of separate sections (yep, there is a proper name for all these bits, and this is the name for these bits carpels) filled with fluid-filled sacs (this name has got to come from some Latin word vesicles) that are actually specialized hair cells.”

Citrus fruits all grow in rather warm climates.  They grow best where there is almost no frost or wind.  All grow in tropical regions, but produce better fruit in a slightly cooler climate.  Citrus fruits are valuable foods.  They contain large amounts of vitamins and minerals.  Citrus fruits are usually high in vitamin C, which humans need daily if they are to stay healthy. 

Citrus plants are members of the rue family of plants, Rutaceae. 

This plant family consists of six genera:

·        Fortunella

·        Eremocitrus

·        Poncirus

·        Clymenia

·        Microcitrus

·        Citrus

The Rue is a type of herb, which grows as a low shrub. Common Rue (Ruta graveolens, commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of Ruta grown as an ornamental plant and as an herb. It is native to the Balkan Peninsula. It is now grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for its bluish leaves, and sometimes for its tolerance of hot and dry soil conditions. It is also cultivated as a medicinal herb, as a condiment, and to a lesser extent as an insect repellent) has deeply divided blue green leaves that have a very strong acrid or bitter smell.

The leaves are used sparingly to flavour meat dishes. The small yellowish flowers are borne on stiff upright flower stalks. About 40 species of Rue are native to Europe and Asia. Rues belong to the family Rutaceae. (Rutaceae, commonly known as the rue or citrus family, are a family of flowering plants, usually placed in the order Sapindales. Species of the family generally have flowers that divide into four or five parts, usually with strong scents. They range in form and size from herbs to shrubs and small trees) The Common rue is also called Ruta Graveolens.

The genus Citrus is native to Southeast Asia, occurring from northern India to China and south through Malaysia, the East Indies and the Philippines. There are about 16 species and they are all small evergreen trees and shrubs, usually with spines on trunks and branches.

The ecology of wild species is now hard to establish because of drastic habitat modifications in the region as well as extensive hybridisation between wild and domesticated plants. The history of domestication has also been hard to establish because archaeological evidence is lacking and it has been difficult to link names and descriptions in ancient accounts with the actual species we know today. Records of domestication go back to about 500 BC. 

Citrus fruits are high in vitamin C, Flavonoids, acids and volatile oils. They contain Coumarins (Coumarin is a fragrant organic chemical compound in the benzopyrone chemical class, which is a colourless crystalline substance in its standard state. It is a natural substance found in many plants.) such as Bergapten (Bergapten is a psoralen found in bergamot essential oil, in other citrus essential oils, and in grapefruit juice. It is the chemical in bergamot oil that causes phytotoxicity. Bergapten-free bergamot essential oil or synthetics are now used in perfumery.) which make the skin sensitive to sunlight.

Many Citrus species and varieties are not cultivated for producing fresh edible fruit but are sour and used for other purposes: oil is extracted from freshly open flowers (e.g. Neroli oil (Neroli oil is an essential oil produced from the blossom of the bitter orange tree. Its scent is sweet, honeyed and somewhat metallic with green and spicy facets. Orange blossom is also extracted from the same blossom and both extracts are extensively used in perfumery. Orange blossom can be described as smelling sweeter, warmer and more floral than neroli. The difference between how neroli and orange blossom smell and why they are referred to with different names, is a result of the process of extraction that is used to obtain the oil from the blooms. Neroli is extracted by steam distillation and orange blossom is extracted via a process of enfleurage.) which comes from Bergamot) and is used in perfumes. Leaves are used for flavouring foods and for medicinal infusions.

Essential oils are extracted from leaves and unripe or ripe fruit and used in flavourings and for scenting toiletry products. The skin of fruit is used for making marmalade.