Dimply Mandarins

Week 41	October 6, 2014	October 12, 2014

1.    Preamble:

After a brief Eid ul Adha interlude, we may now return to our world of nature. Only a week before the last we were talking about our citruses. We may continue with that. The Grape fruit having already been introduced, this week we may describe the Mandarins, which include the familiar Kinnow, Fruiter and Calamondin. The description will only be introductory in nature as the fruits are still green and may take a while before ripening, ready to be picked. We will return to them when such a time arrives in few weeks.

The weather in the meantime has settled into a steady wintry nights followed by cool mornings. The day time temperatures iare still however in the high 20's, often touching 30's but it is still pleasant, a time when we ask our relatives and friends to come over and stay with us.

2.    The Mandarin Orange:

The Mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata) is a variety of the orange family. Cultivars and crosses between the original mandarin and other citrus fruits include: Kinnow, Fruiter and Calamondin, the trees of which are producing fruit at our farm since last few years.

All the varieties of mandarin are easily peelable with fingers, starting at the thick rind covering the depression at the top of the fruit, and can be easily split into even segments without squirting juice. This makes it convenient to eat, as utensils are not required to peel or cut the fruit.

2.1.  The Kinnow Mandarin:

The Kinnow is a prime export fruit of Pakistan. Classified as Kinnow mandarin, it is a hybrid of two citrus cultivars — 'King' (Citrus nobilis) × 'Willow Leaf' (Citrus deliciosa). It was developed at the Research Centre of the University of California, Riverside, USA. After evaluation, it was released as a new variety for commercial cultivation in 1935. Environmental and soil conditions are ideal for kinnow in Punjab and parts of KPK. The factors which have contributed to the success of this fruit are its beautiful golden-orange colour, its abundant juice, and its excellent aroma and taste.

The Kinnow fruit is medium in size. It is moderately to slightly oblate with both the base and apex flattened or slightly depressed. The rind of Kinnow is thin, rather adherent for a mandarin but peel able, tough and leathery. The surface of the fruit is is very smooth and glossy but sometimes faintly pitted. The colour of the skin is yellowish-orange at maturity. The colour of the flesh is deep yellowish-orange. It's flavour is rich, aromatic and distinctive.

The Kinnow fruit tree is vigorous, tall and columnar, with numerous long, slender, ascending and virtually thornless branchlets. It is dense in foliage and consists of medium-large, broad leaves. It has a strong tendency to alternate bearing with large crop of smaller fruits followed by very small crop of larger fruits. It is largely cold-resistant. The present look of the tree and the fruit is depicted in following images:

Read more:

http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/Kinnow.html

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinnow

2.2.  The 'Fruiter' Mandarin:

The 'fruiter' is different from 'kinnow' mandarin in size, shape, colour, taste and juice content. It is more upright than oblate. The fruit is smaller in size. The rind is thicker and peelable with slight difficulty. The surface of the fruit is not as smooth as that of Kinnow and the colour of skin has a reddish-orange rather than yellowish-orange hue to it. The Fruiter tree is often not as large as a kinnow tree.

2.3.  The Calamondin Mandarin:

The Calamondin is a small mandarin like fruit widely cultivated in the Philippines, Hawaii, United States and Europe. It is commonly grown for ornamental purposes. It is often given as a gift during the Chinese New Year to signify good luck. The leaves are small and dense, giving the tree a fine textural appearance, and the fruits are small, round and orange at full maturity. It is widely used as a house or patio plant, the fruits are very sour when eaten raw but can be processed into preserves and jams.

The Calamondin produces intensely perfumed flowers from March onwards. Fruit matures by November and can stay on the tree for more than six months. The fruits grow up to 4cm in diameter and have a very fine rind that becomes loose as the fruit ripens. 

Horticulturists believe that the Calamondin is a hybrid of lime and mandarin, or lime and kumquat, or kumquat and mandarin. Technically, Chinese experts say the calamondin is a hybrid between Citrus reticulata and Citrus japonica. 

There are couple of trees of citrus Calamondin at our farm and they produce abundance of fruit each year, made use of delectable jam preserves.

Read more : 

http://www.ehow.com/about_5079023_calamondin.html

http://www.ehow.com/about_5079023_calamondin.html

Note: the present edition of this blog has again been unduly delayed. I must therefore wind it up. Next week we will take up other citruses e.g., the red blood and sweet oranges. Till then it's good bye and Godspeed.