Sudachi
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Sudachi (Citrus sudachi; Japanese: スダチ or 酢橘) is a small, round, green citrus fruit of Japanese origin that is a specialty of Tokushima Prefecture in Japan. Harvested before it fully ripens to yellow, it is tart and not eaten as a table fruit but used to flavor sauces and marinades, desserts, and drinks in place of lemon or lime.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Genetic analysis shows it to be the product of a cross between a yuzu and another citrus fruit akin to the koji and tachibana orange.
GeneralEdit
The sudachi has been cultivated for centuries in parts of Japan, and is perhaps nearly as well known as the yuzu in the country.<ref name=tanaka-taninaka10>Template:Harvp</ref> The fruit is the specialty<ref name=schmadel>Template:Harvp</ref> and symbol of the prefecture of Tokushima, which produces 98% of all the fruit grown in Japan.<ref name=mlit2015>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}, citing 2011 Ministry of Agriculture figures for Tokushima's 98% share and 2008 data from Tokushima no Engei for shares within the Prefecture.</ref> The top producing communities are the township of Kamiyama-cho and the village of Sanagouchi-son; combined, they accounted for almost half of the prefecture's annual production in 2008.<ref name=mlit2015/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The plant has white flowers which bloom in May and June. The fruits form in bunches and are harvested in the fall. Though sudachi fruits will eventually develop a yellow-orange rind color, they are normally harvested and used while still green.<ref name=wardowski-etal>Template:Cite book</ref> They contain large smooth seeds, containing a green polyembryo.<ref name=tanaka-taninaka12>Template:Harvp</ref>
The Sudachi is sour and not consumed whole, but normally squeezed like a lemon or lime to flavor food.<ref name=iuchi-etal/> A half-slice of the fruit is served as garnish<ref name=wardowski-etal/> with many traditional Japanese dishes which include fish, soba, udon, nabe, and even some alcoholic beverages. It has also been considered an "indispensable companion" to eating matsutake mushrooms.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Template:Nihongo, a citrus-based sauce used in Japanese cuisine, often includes sudachi along with other bitter oranges (kabosu or yuzu juices, and daidai) as an ingredient. Sudachi-flavored products (such as ice cream, vodka coolers, ice pops, and soft drinks) can also be found in Japan, particularly in Tokushima Prefecture, where the fruit is sold cheaply. In other parts of Japan, the fruit is considered a delicacy and is often expensive. Sudachi are considered to have a zestier flavor and aroma compared to lemons or limes, and have a higher calcium and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) content than lemons. Compared to the related kabosu, sudachi are much smaller at Template:Cvt<ref name=wardowski-etal/> up to Template:Cvt compared to Template:Cvt.
Some California farms now grow sudachi on a commercial scale, after trees became readily available to nurseries around 2008.<ref name=latimes-2013-09-07>Template:Cite news</ref> The fruit is also being cultivated in Piura, Peru.Template:Citation needed
ClassificationEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Its species name was published by Mitsutaro Shirai (1933),<ref>A discourse on Japanese names of trees (Jumoku Wamei Ko) 114, index 8. 1933</ref><ref>Template:GRIN</ref> but most modern scientists, even while still using this nomenclature by habit or as legacy, do not consider it as a bona fide species, but a cultivar or a hybrid of uncertain parentage.<ref name=iuchi-etal>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=shimizu2016/> Tyozaburo Tanaka's assumption that the sudachi is a hybrid of yuzu<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> appears to be supported by DNA studies;<ref name=shimizu2016>Template:Citation</ref> recent genetic analysis has confirmed its status as a hybrid, with one parent being the yuzu, and the other an unidentified relative of two native-Japanese cultivars, the koji and tachibana orange.<ref name=shimizu2016 />
The sudachi was classed within the Papeda subgenus in the Swingle scheme, and in the more complicated Tyozaburo Tanaka scheme within the Eusmocitrus or true yuzu subgenus, under the Osmocitrus or yuzu section.<ref>Template:Harvp</ref>
PhytochemistryEdit
The flavonoid eriocitrin abundant in lemon and lime juices is present in comparable concentrations in sudachi juice, but is lacking in yuzu or kabosu juices. Also, neoeriocitrin (characteristic in bergamot daidai) is found in sudachi juice and rind.<ref name=miyake2006>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal also reports eriocitrin in sudachi.</ref> Eriocitrin is an antioxidant reported to combat lipid peroxidation<ref>Template:Harvp</ref> and like neoeriocitrin is said to block the formation of lipoxygenases involved in allergies and atherosclerosis.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal, etc.</ref>
Also, the flavonoid narirutin is said to be the active chemical in the Wakayama Prefecture specialty citrus jabara juice that is said to diminish the effects of pollen allergies. The jabara advertises that it contains 6 times the narirutin in yuzu, but sudachi juice also contains about 3 times as much as yuzu juice (20.1 mg per 100 ml, vs. 6.6 mg).<ref name=miyake2006/> This substance is quite abundant in the rind of yuzu and kabosu.<ref name=miyake2006/>
The ability of the sudachi to promote the body's calcium absorption has been studied as well.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In 2006, a Tokushima University research team published a report which suggests that the fruit may be effective in lowering glucose levels in diabetic patients. The team gave rats sudachi zest over a one-year period and found that their glucose levels were lowered, with signs of improved health in the rats.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
ReferencesEdit
FootnotesEdit
BibliographyEdit
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- Template:Cite encyclopedia
- Sudachi at Citrus Variety Collection
- Template:Cite journal
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