50 Fun Facts About Lemon

A true lemon is a hybrid of the bitter orange and which other citrus fruit?

The citron is one of the handful of original citrus species from which every modern variety descends.

Some evidence suggests lemons originated during the 1st millennium BC in what is now which country?

From there the fruit worked its way west through Persia, Iraq and Egypt over the following centuries.

Roughly what percentage of lemon juice is citric acid?

That is about twice the citric acid of grapefruit juice and about five times that of orange juice.

Which two countries together produced 31% of the world's lemons in 2024?

World production that year was about 23 million tonnes.

Botanically, a lemon is a hesperidium, which is a modified form of what?

A hesperidium is a berry with a tough, leathery rind, the same structure shared by oranges and grapefruits.

The word 'lemon' ultimately traces back to which language, where it was a generic term for citrus fruit?

The route was Old French limon, Italian limone, Arabic laymun or limun, and finally the Persian limun.

Lemons had reached southern Italy, in the time of ancient Rome, no later than roughly which year?

That puts lemons in Roman Italy, though large-scale cultivation would not begin for well over a thousand years.

The first substantial European cultivation of lemons began in the mid-15th century in which city?

The maritime republic's traders had long links to the eastern Mediterranean, where the fruit was already established.

Who brought lemon seeds to Hispaniola in 1493, introducing the fruit to the Americas?

The seeds arrived on his second voyage, a year after the first landfall.

The lemon spread across the Mediterranean between roughly 1000 and 1150 during which historical movement?

The fruit had reached Persia, Iraq and Egypt around the year 700 before spreading further west.

The 'Eureka' lemon was developed in 19th-century California from specimens brought west during which event?

It came from specimens brought west during the Gold Rush.

The 'Lisbon' lemon was brought to California by immigrants from which country?

It is very similar to the Eureka, and the two dominate commercial groves.

The 'Bonnie Brae' lemon, an oblong, thin-skinned, seedless variety, is mostly grown in which area?

The variety is smooth-skinned and seedless, unlike most commercial lemons.

The 'Yen Ben' lemon is a cultivar from which part of the world?

It is a Lisbon-type selection grown commercially in New Zealand and Australia.

Which physician's 1747 experiments on seamen with scurvy involved adding lemon juice to their diet?

The trial aboard HMS Salisbury used twelve patients and is regarded as one of the first controlled clinical experiments.

On which ship did the famous 1747 scurvy trial take place while it patrolled the Bay of Biscay?

The ship's surgeon divided twelve sick sailors into pairs and gave each pair a different supposed remedy.

In which year did the Admiralty agree to issue lemon juice routinely to the whole fleet?

It followed a 23-week non-stop voyage to India by the Suffolk, on which the juice was issued as a test.

The 1867 law requiring British sailors' daily lime or lemon juice helped attach which nickname to the British?

The name spread from sailors to English immigrants in America, New Zealand and South Africa.

Scurvy, the disease that lemon juice prevents, is caused by a lack of which nutrient?

The vitamin's chemical name, ascorbic acid, literally means 'anti-scurvy'.

On his 1499 voyage, which explorer lost 116 of a crew of 170, mainly to scurvy?

Magellan fared even worse two decades later, losing 208 of 230 men.

Who won the 1937 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine partly for isolating ascorbic acid?

Humans, guinea pigs and most bats cannot make their own vitamin C, while most other animals can.

The Meyer lemon is a cross between one of the original citrus species and a hybrid of which two fruits?

That parentage is why it is sweeter and less tart than a supermarket lemon, tasting a little like a tangerine.

In which country did Frank Meyer collect the Meyer lemon he introduced to the US in 1908?

It was catalogued as S.P.I. #23028, one of thousands of plants he sent home.

Most US Meyer lemon trees were destroyed in the 1940s because they were symptomless carriers of what?

A virus-free selection found in the 1950s was released by the University of California in 1975 as the 'Improved Meyer lemon'.

Which Chez Panisse chef is credited with rediscovering the Meyer lemon as a food item?

Its popularity climbed further when Martha Stewart began featuring it in recipes.

In which state did the Ponderosa lemon, a large bumpy-rinded fruit, arise as a chance seedling around 1887?

Genomic analysis found it is a hybrid of pomelo and citron, so it is not a true lemon at all.

Which lemon variety, also known as Sorrento or Sfusato, is traditionally used to make limoncello?

Only the zest goes into the liqueur; it is steeped in spirit until the oil is released, then mixed with syrup.

Limoncello is the second most popular liqueur in Italy, behind which brand?

It is traditionally served chilled as an after-dinner digestif.

A lemon-juice-and-sugar drink called qatarmizat was being consumed in the 13th century in which country?

A drink of lemons, dates and honey was also drunk in the Mamluk period.

In 1676 the Compagnie de Limonadiers sold lemonade from tanks carried on vendors' backs in which city?

The vendors dispensed cups of the soft drink to passers-by in the street.

One story says pink lemonade was invented in 1857 using water that had rinsed a circus performer's pink what?

A rival story credits another circus worker who dropped red cinnamon candies into a batch.

In a lemon battery, where does the electrical energy actually come from?

A single lemon cell gives about 0.9 volts, and several wired together can run a small digital watch.

What is the typical voltage produced by a single lemon cell with zinc and copper electrodes?

The classic classroom version uses a galvanized nail and a penny pushed into the fruit.

Lemon juice makes a simple invisible ink; what develops the hidden writing?

The same juice was once the primary commercial source of citric acid.

Lemon peel is used commercially to manufacture which gelling agent used in jams?

The peel's oil is extracted separately by breaking up the cells and flushing it off with a water spray.

Lemon juice in fish marinades neutralises which compounds responsible for fishy smells?

On tougher meats it partly hydrolyses collagen fibres, which is why it turns up in tenderising marinades too.

Preserved lemons, brined in salt and lemon juice, are a signature condiment in which country's tagines?

It is the peel, zest and pith together, that is most valued rather than the pulp.

What is the culinary name for the white, bitter layer of a lemon peel found just under the zest?

Botanists call it the albedo or mesocarp, and cooks generally avoid it.

Which cyclic monoterpene, main component of citrus peel oil, is named from the Italian for lemon?

It is added to hand cleansers both for its scent and because it dissolves oils.

The heaviest lemon on record, weighing 5.265 kg (11 lb 9.7 oz), was grown in 2003 in which country?

Aharon Shemoel grew it on his farm in Kefar Zeitim.

Which French Riviera town holds a February carnival with floats built from citrus fruit?

The Fête du Citron dates to 1875, when local hoteliers proposed a winter parade to liven up the town.

In a Hindu custom for good fortune, the owner of a new car may drive over how many lemons?

In India a lemon may also be ritually circled around a person in the belief that it repels negative energies.

The 1975 US law making manufacturers honour warranties, backbone of 'lemon laws', is named after which two legislators?

Lemon laws compensate buyers of cars and other goods that repeatedly fail to meet standards of quality.

Which economist's 1970 paper 'The Market for Lemons' used defective used cars to explain asymmetric information?

The slang was older: by 1909 'lemon' meant a worthless thing or booby prize in American English.

'When life gives you lemons' traces to Elbert Hubbard's 1915 obituary of Marshall Wilder, who had what career?

Dale Carnegie later put 'If You Have a Lemon, Make a Lemonade' into How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.

The Eureka lemon is also known by which name, because it fruits and flowers all year?

In French it is the Quatre Saisons; a pink-fleshed variegated version also exists.

In the UK, lemon juice is traditionally squeezed over pancakes on which day?

The acid also stops sliced apples, bananas and avocados from browning.

About what share of the Daily Value of vitamin C does 100 g of raw lemon provide?

The same amount supplies only 29 calories and is 89% water.

Which cold-hardy citron-mandarin cross is often used as a citrus rootstock?

The Volkamer lemon is another citron-mandarin cross.

Lemon juice contains about how many grams of citric acid per litre?

That is nearly twice grapefruit juice's level and about five times that of orange juice.