47 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?

Lemons are thought to have first grown in India's Assam region, then moved west across southwest Asia and the Mediterranean over the following centuries.

Roughly what percentage of lemon juice is citric acid?

Lemon juice is roughly 5-6% citric acid by volume, about twice the concentration found in grapefruit juice and five times that of orange juice.

Lemon juice has a pH of roughly what value?

Lemon juice has a pH of about 2, making it strongly acidic; the sourness comes mainly from its high citric acid content.

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.

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

Genoa, a maritime republic whose traders worked the eastern Mediterranean, began the first substantial European cultivation of lemons in the mid-1400s.

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

Christopher Columbus carried lemon seeds to Hispaniola on his second voyage in 1493, a year after his first landfall in the Americas.

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

The Arab Agricultural Revolution carried crops west across the Islamic world; lemons reached Iraq around AD 700 and were spread around the Mediterranean by 1150.

The lemon belongs to which plant family?

The lemon belongs to Rutaceae, the rue family, which holds every Citrus species including oranges, grapefruit and kumquats.

What colour is an unripe lemon?

Unripe lemons are green; the peel turns yellow as chlorophyll breaks down during ripening, a change growers can also trigger in storage with ethylene gas.

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

The Bonnie Brae lemon is grown mostly in San Diego County, California; its smooth, thin-skinned, seedless fruit is rarely seen outside that area.

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

Yen Ben is an Australasian cultivar, a Lisbon-type selection made in Queensland and grown commercially in New Zealand and Australia.

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

James Lind, a naval surgeon, ran the 1747 trial on twelve scurvy patients, comparing remedies in pairs; it 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 trial took place aboard HMS Salisbury, whose 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?

The Admiralty adopted routine lemon juice issue in 1795, after the Suffolk completed a 23-week non-stop voyage the previous year with the juice issued daily and almost no scurvy.

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

Vitamin C, chemically ascorbic acid, is the missing nutrient in scurvy; the name 'ascorbic' literally means 'anti-scurvy'.

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

Vasco da Gama lost 116 of 170 men on his 1499 voyage, mostly to scurvy; Magellan fared even worse two decades later, losing 208 of 230.

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

Albert Szent-Györgyi isolated ascorbic acid, first from adrenal glands and later in bulk from Hungarian paprika, earning the 1937 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

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

The Meyer lemon's other parent is a hybrid of mandarin and pomelo, which is why the fruit is sweeter and less tart than a supermarket lemon, with a hint of tangerine.

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

Frank Meyer found the fruit growing as a pot plant in China and sent it to the US in 1908, where it was catalogued as S.P.I. #23028.

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

The trees carried Citrus tristeza virus without showing symptoms, threatening other citrus; a virus-free selection found in the 1950s was released in 1975 as the 'Improved Meyer lemon'.

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

Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, put the Meyer lemon on restaurant menus; 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?

The Ponderosa arose around 1887 as a chance seedling in Hagerstown, Maryland; it is a thick-skinned, bumpy hybrid rather than a true lemon.

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

Femminello St. Teresa zest, rich in lemon oil, is steeped in spirit until the oil is released, then mixed with sugar syrup to make limoncello.

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

In 13th-century Egypt a sweetened lemon-juice drink called qatarmizat was drunk and traded, one of the earliest written records of lemonade.

In 1676, vendors in which city sold lemonade from tanks carried on their backs?

In Paris the Compagnie de Limonadiers, granted a monopoly in 1676, sent vendors through the streets dispensing cups of lemonade from tanks on their backs.

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

Circus vendor Pete Conklin reputedly used water in which a performer had rinsed her pink tights; a rival story credits Henry Allott dropping red cinnamon candies into a batch.

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

The energy comes from the zinc dissolving into the acid: zinc atoms give up electrons at that electrode, while hydrogen ions from the juice take them up at the copper.

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

A zinc-copper lemon cell yields about 0.9 V; the classic classroom version uses a galvanized nail and a copper penny pushed into the fruit.

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

Heat develops the writing: the dried juice's sugars and acids oxidise and brown faster than the surrounding paper when the sheet is warmed over a flame or bulb.

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

Pectin, the polysaccharide that sets jams, is extracted commercially from lemon peel; the peel's oil is taken separately by breaking its cells and flushing them 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 of which country's cuisine?

In Morocco, preserved lemons flavour tagines and salads; it is the softened peel rather than the pulp that cooks prize.

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

The pith, which botanists call the albedo or mesocarp, is spongy and bitter, so cooks generally avoid it when zesting.

Which cyclic monoterpene is the main component of citrus peel oil?

Limonene, named from the Italian 'limone', makes up most of citrus peel oil; it goes into hand cleansers for its scent and because it dissolves grease.

In 2003 a farmer in which country grew a 5.265 kg lemon, then the world's heaviest?

Aharon Shemoel grew the 5.265 kg lemon on his farm at Kefar Zeitim, Israel, in 2003, earning a Guinness World Record.

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

Menton's lemon festival, held every February, builds giant sculptures and parade floats from well over 100 tonnes of lemons and oranges.

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

Four lemons, one under each wheel, are crushed as the new car is driven forward, a ritual meant to bring good fortune and ward off the evil eye.

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

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975, named for Senator Warren Magnuson and Representative John Moss, governs consumer warranties and underpins state lemon laws.

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

George Akerlof's 1970 paper 'The Market for Lemons' showed how buyers' inability to tell good cars from bad drives quality out of a market; it won him a share of the 2001 Nobel.

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

Marshall Wilder was an actor and humorist with dwarfism whose cheer Hubbard praised; Dale Carnegie later put 'If You Have a Lemon, Make a Lemonade' into How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.

The common supermarket Eureka lemon is also known by which name?

Eureka is called the Four Seasons lemon (Quatre Saisons in French) because it flowers and fruits throughout the year; a pink-fleshed variegated version also exists.

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

Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day, is when British pancakes get their classic topping of lemon juice and sugar; the acid also keeps sliced apples and avocados from browning.

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

Raw lemon supplies about 59% of the Daily Value in 100 g, a portion that also provides just 29 calories and is 89% water.

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

The rough lemon, Citrus jambhiri, is a vigorous, thorny hybrid widely planted as a rootstock for oranges and other citrus; the Volkamer lemon is a similar cross.

Sorrento and Amalfi Coast lemons carry which EU protected-name status?

Both Limone di Sorrento and Limone Costa d'Amalfi hold Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status in the EU, reserving the names for lemons grown in those areas.