Template:Short description Template:Good article Template:Use American English Template:Speciesbox
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.
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.
EtymologyEdit
The 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Citrus reticulata is from Latin, where reticulata means "netted".<ref name="mbg">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
DescriptionEdit
TreeEdit
Citrus reticulata is a moderate-sized tree some Template:Convert in height.<ref name=morton/><ref name=mbg/> The tree trunk and major branches have thorns.<ref name=morton/> The leaves are shiny, green, and rather small.<ref name=morton/> The petioles are short, almost wingless or slightly winged.<ref name=morton/> The flowers are borne singly or in small groups in the leaf-axils.<ref name=morton/> 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 Template:Convert of fruit.<ref name="ucr">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
FruitEdit
Mandarin orange fruits are small Template:Convert.<ref name=morton/> Their color is orange, yellow-orange, or red-orange.<ref name=karp/> The skin is thin and peels off easily.<ref name=morton/> Their easiness to peel is an important advantage of mandarin oranges over other citrus fruits.<ref name=karp/> Just like with other citrus fruits, mandarin is separated easily from the segments.<ref name=morton/> 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.<ref name="Wang"/> They can be eaten as whole or squeezed to make juice.<ref name=morton/><ref name=karp/> 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.<ref name="latimes">Template:Cite news</ref>
EvolutionEdit
OriginsEdit
The wild mandarin is one of the pure ancestral citrus taxa; they evolved in a restricted region of South China and Vietnam.<ref name="Fuller Castillo 2017">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Curk">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Wang">Template:Cite journal</ref>
DomesticationEdit
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,<ref name=Wu2021>Template:Cite journal and Supplement</ref> 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.<ref name="Wang2018">Template:Cite journal</ref>
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.<ref name="Wang2018" /> All tested domesticated cultivars belong to one of these two genetic clusters, with varieties such as Nanfengmiju, Kishu and Satsuma from the northern domestication event producing larger, redder fruit, while varieties such as Willowleaf, Dancy, Sunki, Cleopatra, King, and Ponkan belong to the smaller, yellower-fruited southern cluster.<ref name="Wang2018"/>
TaxonomyEdit
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.<ref name=identification /> 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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Genetic analysis is consistent with continental mandarins representing a single species, varying due to hybridization.<ref name="Wu Terol Ibanez 2018"/> An island species, Citrus ryukyuensis that diverged 2 to 3 million years ago when cut off by rising sea levels, was found on Okinawa Island. Its hybridization with the mainland species has produced unique island cultivars in Japan and Taiwan, such as the Tachibana orange<ref name=Wu2021/> the Shekwasha,<ref name=Wu2021/> and Nanfengmiju.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite news</ref> They have some pomelo DNA, like all domesticated mandarins.<ref name="Wang2018"/> Northern and southern domesticates contain different pomelo contributions.<ref name="Wang2018"/> An 'acidic' group including Sunki and Cleopatra mandarins likewise contain small regions of introgressed pomelo DNA; they are too sour to eat, but are widely used as rootstock and grown for juice.<ref name=identification>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Wu Terol Ibanez 2018"/> Another group, including some tangerines, satsuma and king mandarins, show more pomelo contribution.<ref name="Wu Terol Ibanez 2018"/> Hybrid mandarins thus fall on a continuum of increasing pomelo contribution with clementines, sweet and sour oranges, and grapefruit.<ref name="Curk"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Wu Terol Ibanez 2018">Template:Cite journal and Supplement</ref>
ProductionEdit
In 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.<ref name="faostat">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Spain produced 1.8 million tonnes in 2022, with Turkey, Egypt, and Morocco as other significant producers.<ref name=faostat/>
UsesEdit
NutritionEdit
Template:Infobox nutritional value
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.
CulinaryEdit
Mandarins have a stronger and sweeter taste than sweet oranges.<ref name="karp">Template:Cite news</ref> Mandarins are peeled and eaten fresh or used in salads, desserts and main dishes.<ref name="morton">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Fresh mandarins are used in the production of the liqueur Mandarine Napoléon.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.<ref name=morton/> It is used as a flavouring in some liqueurs.<ref name=morton/>
- Cinpi2 (cropped).jpg
Dried mandarin peel used as a seasoning
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Mandarins in a fresh fruit salad
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Chocolate flavoured with Mandarine Napoléon
Cultural significanceEdit
In North America, mandarins are commonly purchased in 5- or 10-pound boxes,<ref name=karp/> 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."<ref name=AITC1>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Satsumas were grown in the United States from the early 1900s. Still, Japan remained a major supplier.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> U.S. imports of these Japanese oranges was suspended due to hostilities with Japan during World War II.<ref name="AITC1" /> 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.<ref name="AITC1"/> 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<ref name=Marion/>—young girls dressed in traditional kimono.<ref name=France-CanadaChristmas>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Historically, the Christmas fruit sold in North America was mostly Dancys, but now it is more often a hybrid.<ref name="arkoftaste">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="AFP">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=AFP /><ref name="Marion">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Their use as Christmas gifts probably spread from the Japanese immigrant community.<ref name="coop">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Mandarin oranges are mentioned in Sinclair Ross' 1942 novel, As for Me and My House, and his 1939 short story, Cornet at Night.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
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