A tangerine.

The tangerine (Citrus × tangerina) is an orange-coloured citrus fruit. It is a variety of the Mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata). Tangerines are smaller than most oranges, and the skin of some varieties will peel off more easily. The taste is often less sour, or tart, than that of an orange.

Good tangerines will be firm to slightly soft, heavy for their size, and pebbly-skinned with no deep grooves, as well as orange in color. Peak tangerine season is short, lasting from November to January in the Northern Hemisphere. Tangerines are most commonly peeled and eaten out of hand. The fresh fruit is also used in salads, desserts and main dishes. Fresh tangerine juice and frozen juice concentrate are commonly available in the United States. The number of seeds in each segment (carpel) varies greatly.

A popular alternative to tangerines are clementines, which are also a variant of the mandarin orange.

[edit] History

Tangerines have been cultivated for over 3,000 years in China, Japan, and Djibouti. They were also high in concentration in present day Burma. They did not reach Europe and North America, however, until the nineteenth century. The name tangerine comes from Tangier, Morocco, a port from which the first tangerines were shipped to Europe. Tangerines have been found in many shapes and sizes, from that as small as a small walnut, to larger than an average orange.

[edit] Varieties

The Honey tangerine, originally called a murcott, is very sweet, as its name suggests. Other popular kinds include the sunburst tangerines and Fairchild tangerines.

One of the oldest and most popular varieties is the Dancy tangerine, but it is no longer widely grown.^[1] The Dancy was known as the zipper-skin tangerine, and also as the kid-glove orange, for its loose, pliable peel.

[edit] Nutrition

Tangerines are a good source of vitamin C, folate and beta-carotene. They also contain some potassium, magnesium and vitamins B1, B2 & B3. Tangerine oil, like all citrus oils, has limonene as its major constituent, but also alpha-pinene, myrcene, gamma-terpinene, citronellal, linalool, neral, neryl acetate, geranyl acetate, geraniol, thymol, and carvone.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tangerines

• Nutritional Analysis at FoodsDatabase