Many ancient travelers mentioned the pleasant appearance of citrus trees and the fruit, although the fruit of citrus trees had not evolved to the point of becoming a major staple food, the fragrance of all parts of citrus trees, including flowers and fruit, they were desirable room perfumers and were thought to repel insects.

The presence of citrus in Europe and the Middle East was thought to be due to natural native trees and shrubs, but historians today believe that the ancestor of citrus trees, Citrus medica L., was introduced by Alexander the Great from India. to Greece, Turkey, and North Africa in the late 4th century BC. The oldest citrus fruit was called ‘lemon’.

There are ancient clues from wall paintings in the Egyptian temple at Karnak that citrus trees had been growing there. There were other suggestions that citrus trees may have been familiar to the Jews during their exile and enslavement by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC. Although speculation suggests that citrus trees were known and cultivated by the Hebrews, there is no direct mention of citrus in the Bible.

The first record of citrus, Citrus medica L., in European history was made by Theophrastus, in 350 BC. C., after the introduction of the fruit by Alexander the Great.

In early European history, writers wrote of Persian citrus, which had a wonderful fragrance and was thought to be a poison remedy, a breath sweetener, and a moth repellant.

Citrus was well known to the ancient cultures of the Greeks and later the Romans. A beautiful ceramic tile was found in the ruins of Pompeii after the city was destroyed by a volcanic eruption from Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 Another mosaic tile in the ruins of a Roman villa in Carthage, North Africa, ca. in the 2nd century AD it clearly showed the fruit of a lemon and a lemon fruit growing on a tree branch.

Early Christian tile mosaics dating to 300 AD. C. of oranges and lemons were displayed in lemon yellow and orange colors surrounded by bright green leaves and freshly cut tree branches; the relics can still be seen in Istanbul, Turkey, in mosques that were once churches of Emperor Constantine.

It is not known how, where or when today’s exceptional citrus tree varieties such as sweet orange, lemon, kumquat, lime, grapefruit or pomelo were developed, but there seems to be a general consensus of opinion that all These citrus developments and improvements were obtained by natural selection, artificial and natural evolution. It is well known that the Romans knew the sour orange, Citrus aurantium L. and the lemon tree, Citrus limon. After the fall of Rome to barbarian and Muslim invasions, Arab states rapidly spread citrus cultivars and naturally improving trees throughout much of North Africa, Spain, and Syria. The spread of the sour orange, Citrus aurantium L., and the lemon, Citrus limon, extended the cultivation and planting of these trees on a global scale by planting the seed, which produced citrus trees very similar to the parent trees. The Crusader conquest of the Arabs later spread citrus planting and cultivation throughout Europe.

The sweet orange, Citrus sinensis, appeared at the end of the 15th century, around the time of Christopher Columbus, who discovered America. After the trade routes were closed when the Turks defeated the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453, centered in Constantinople (Istanbul), many European kings began looking for alternative trade routes to open trade by ship with China and India. The introduction of the sweet orange tree in Europe changed the dynamics of the importance of citrus in the world. The voyage of the Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gamma recorded that in 1498 there were many orange trees in India and all the fruits tasted sweet. The new variety of sweet orange, known as “Portugal orange”, caused a dramatic increase in citrus planting, much like the much later introduction of the “Washington navel orange” tree to California.

The lime, Citrus latifolia, was first mentioned in European history by Sir Thomas Herbert in his book Travels, who recorded that he found “oranges, lemons, and limes” growing on the island of Mozambique in the mid-17th century. Today’s lime trees are available in many cultivars.

By 1707, Spanish missions were growing oranges, figs, quinces, pomegranates, peaches, apricots, apples, pears, mulberries, pecans, and other trees according to horticultural documents.

The mandarin orange, Citrus reticulata, was described in Chinese history in the late 12th century, but was unknown in Europe until it was brought from a mandarin province in China to England in 1805, where it quickly spread throughout Europe.

The grapefruit, Citrus grandis, also called shaddock and ‘Adam’s apple’ grew in Palestine in the early 13th century and was planted and cultivated by the Arabs. The grapefruit is believed to have an Asian origin and was planted as a seed in the New World.

The grapefruit, Citrus paradisi, is believed to have arisen as a mutation of the pomelo tree. Grapefruits got their name because they grew in clusters like grapes, but were considered inedible by most gardeners until AL Duncan found an outstanding grapefruit that was named Duncan pomelo in 1892; the original tree is still alive and growing in Florida.

Christopher Columbus introduced citrus to the island of Haiti in 1493. It is believed that he brought citrus seeds to plant and grow sour orange, sweet orange, citron, lemon, lime and grapefruit fruits. Records show that these citrus trees were well established in the American colonies around 1565 in St. Augustine, Florida, and on the coast of South Carolina.

William Bartram reported in his celebrated botanical book, Travels, in 1773 that Henry Laurens of Charleston, South Carolina, who served as president of the Continental Congresses, introduced “olives, limes, ginger, perennial strawberry, red raspberry, and blue grapes” . to the United States colonies after 1755.

William Bartram in his book Travels reported that near Savannah, Georgia, “It is interesting to note that until 1790, oranges were grown in some quantity along the coast, and in that year about 3,000 gallons of orange juice were exported .”

Many of these wild orange groves were seen by American explorer William Bartram, according to his book Travels, in 1773, while traveling up the Saint John River in Florida. Bartram mistakenly thought that these orange trees were native to Florida; however, they were established centuries earlier by Spanish explorers.

The citrus industry began to develop rapidly in 1821 when the Spanish ceded their territories and their many orange groves to the United States. Wild orange groves were worked over the top with improved cultivars and residents who traveled to Florida found how refreshing orange juice tasted; thus began shipments of oranges, grapefruit, limes, and lemons being sent to Philadelphia and New York by rail and ship in the 1880s.

Spanish missionaries established extensive citrus plantations in California; however, the commercial industry began to grow with the boom of the 1849 gold rush, and efforts to supply citrus to San Francisco miners were successful. The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad further stimulated the citrus industry, as citrus could be shipped quickly to eastern markets. Later improvements in refrigeration helped increase the cultivation and planting of citrus fruits, primarily oranges, lemons, and limes throughout the world in 1889.

Florida at first dominated citrus production in the United States, but due to devastating frosts in 1894 and 1899, Satsuma orange trees were all but wiped out in the Gulf States. Thousands of acres of Satsuma orange trees were wiped out in Alabama, Texas, and Louisiana in the frost of 1916; thus, United States citrus production began to shift from Florida to California.

Citrus is marketed worldwide as a health-promoting fruit that contains vitamin C and many other vitamins and minerals in orange and citrus products, lime jam, fresh fruit, and packaged and frozen citrus juice concentrates. hot.

Copyright 2006 Patrick Malcolm