Mandarin orange

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Small citrus fruit

title: "Mandarin orange" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["citrus", "fruits-originating-in-asia", "christmas-food", "sinterklaas-food", "fruit-trees", "flora-of-china", "flora-of-japan", "flora-of-vietnam"] description: "Small citrus fruit" topic_path: "geography/china" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_orange" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Small citrus fruit ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox nutritional value"]

Field	Value
image	Mandarins - whole and halved.jpg
name	Mandarin oranges, raw
kJ	223
water	85.2 g
protein	0.81 g
fat	0.31 g
carbs	13.34 g
fibre	1.8 g
sugars	10.58 g
calcium_mg	37
iron_mg	0.15
magnesium_mg	12
phosphorus_mg	20
potassium_mg	166
sodium_mg	2
zinc_mg	0.07
manganese_mg	0.039
vitC_mg	26.7
thiamin_mg	0.058
riboflavin_mg	0.036
niacin_mg	0.376
pantothenic_mg	0.216
vitB6_mg	0.078
folate_ug	16
choline_mg	10.2
vitA_ug	34
betacarotene_ug	155
vitE_mg	0.2
source_usda	1
note	Link to USDA Database entry
::

A mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata), often simply called mandarin, is a small, rounded citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. The mandarin is small and oblate, unlike the roughly spherical sweet orange (which is a mandarin-pomelo hybrid). The taste is sweeter and stronger than the common orange. A ripe mandarin orange is firm to slightly soft, heavy for its size, and pebbly-skinned. The peel is thin and loose, with little white mesocarp, so they are usually easier to peel and to split into segments. Hybrids have these traits to lesser degrees. The mandarin orange is tender and is damaged easily by cold. It can be grown in tropical and subtropical areas.

According to genetic studies, the wild mandarin was one of the original citrus species; through breeding or natural hybridization, it is the ancestor of many hybrid citrus cultivars. With the citron and pomelo, it is the ancestor of the most commercially important hybrids (such as sweet and sour oranges, grapefruit, and many lemons and limes). Though the ancestral mandarin orange was bitter, most commercial mandarin strains derive from hybridization with the pomelo, which gives them sweet fruit.

Etymology

The name mandarin orange is a calque of Swedish mandarin apelsin [apelsin from German Apfelsine (Apfel + Sina), meaning Chinese apple], first attested in the 18th century. The Imperial Chinese term "mandarine" was first adopted by the French for this fruit. The reason for the epithet is not clear.

Citrus reticulata is from Latin, where reticulata means "netted".

Description

Tree

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Mandarinier_Gortyne.jpg" caption="Fruiting mandarin tree in [[Crete]]"] ::

Citrus reticulata is a moderate-sized tree some 25 ft in height.

Fruit

Mandarin orange fruits are small 40 -.

Evolution

Origins

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Hybrid_origins_of_Citrus.svg" caption="hybrids]] of mandarin and either [[citron]] or [[pomelo]]. Some mandarins are the original wild species, but most are hybrids.<ref name="Wu Terol Ibanez 2018"/>"] ::

The wild mandarin is one of the pure ancestral citrus taxa; they evolved in a restricted region of South China and Vietnam.

Domestication

Mandarins appear to have been domesticated at least twice, in the north and south Nanling Mountains, derived from separate wild subspecies. Wild mandarins are still found there, including Daoxian mandarines (sometimes given the species name Citrus daoxianensis) as well as some members of the group traditionally called 'Mangshan wild mandarins', a generic grouping for the wild mandarin-like fruit of the Mangshan area that includes both true mandarins (mangshanyeju, the southern subspecies) and the genetically distinct and only distantly-related Mangshanyegan. The wild mandarins were found free of the introgressed pomelo (C. maxima) DNA found in domestic mandarins. Still, they did appear to have small amounts (~1.8%) of introgression from the ichang papeda, which grows wild in the same region.

The Nanling Mountains are home to northern and southern genetic clusters of domestic mandarins that have similar levels of sugars in the fruit compared to their wild relatives but appreciably (in some almost 90-fold) lower levels of citric acid. The clusters display different patterns of pomelo introgression, have different deduced historical population histories, and are most closely related to distinct wild mandarins, suggesting two independent domestications in the north and south. All tested domesticated cultivars belong to one of these two genetic clusters, with varieties such as Nanfengmiju, Kishu, and Satsuma from the northern domestication event producing larger, redder fruit, while varieties such as Willowleaf, Dancy, Sunki, Cleopatra, King, and Ponkan belong to the smaller, yellower-fruited southern cluster.

Taxonomy

The Tanaka classification system divided domestic mandarins and similar fruit into numerous species, giving distinct names to cultivars such as willowleaf mandarins (C. deliciosa), satsumas (C. unshiu), tangerines (C. tangerina). Under the Swingle system, all these are considered to be varieties of a single species, Citrus reticulata. In the genomic-based species taxonomy of Ollitrault et al., only pure wild type mandarins would fall under C. reticulata, while the pomelo admixture found in the majority of mandarins would cause them to be classified as varieties of the hybrid bitter orange, C. aurantium.

Genetic analysis is consistent with continental mandarins representing a single species, varying due to hybridization. An island species, Citrus ryukyuensis that diverged 2 to 3 million years ago when cut off by rising sea levels, was found on Okinawa Island. Its hybridization with the mainland species has produced unique island cultivars in Japan and Taiwan, such as the Tachibana orange They have some pomelo DNA, like all domesticated mandarins. Northern and southern domesticates contain different pomelo contributions. An 'acidic' group including Sunki and Cleopatra mandarins likewise contain small regions of introgressed pomelo DNA; they are too sour to eat, but are widely used as rootstock and grown for juice. Another group, including some tangerines, satsuma, and king mandarins, show more pomelo contribution. Hybrid mandarins thus fall on a continuum of increasing pomelo contribution with clementines, sweet and sour oranges, and grapefruit.

Production

In 2022, world production of mandarin oranges (combined with tangerines, clementines, and satsumas in reporting to FAOSTAT) was 44.2 million tonnes, led by China with 61% of the global total. Spain produced 1.8 million tonnes in 2022, with Turkey, Egypt, and Morocco as other significant producers.

Uses

Nutrition

A mandarin orange contains 85% water, 13% carbohydrates, and negligible amounts of fat and protein (table). Among micronutrients, only vitamin C is in significant content (32% of the Daily Value) in a 100-gram reference serving, with all other nutrients in low amounts.

Culinary

Mandarins have a stronger and sweeter taste than sweet oranges. They are peeled and eaten fresh or used in salads, desserts and main dishes. Fresh mandarins are used in the production of the liqueur Mandarine Napoléon.

The peel is used fresh, whole or as zest, or dried as chenpi. It can be used as a spice for cooking, baking, drinks, or candy. Essential oil from the fresh peel may be used as a flavouring for candy, in gelatins, ice cream, chewing gum, and baked goods. It is used as a flavouring in some liqueurs.

File:Cinpi2 (cropped).jpg|Dried mandarin peel used as a seasoning File:Chocolate coated citrus peel 01.jpg|Chocolate-coated citrus peel File:Fresh Fruit Dessert.jpg|Mandarins in a fresh fruit salad File:Galler Mandarine Napoléon Lait split (22567613826).jpg|Chocolate flavoured with Mandarine Napoléon

Cultural significance

In North America, mandarins are commonly purchased in 5- or 10-pound boxes, Satsumas were grown in the United States from the early 1900s. Still, Japan remained a major supplier. U.S. imports of these Japanese oranges was suspended due to hostilities with Japan during World War II. While they were one of the first Japanese goods allowed for export after the end of the war, residual hostility led to the rebranding of these oranges as "Mandarin" oranges instead of "Japanese" oranges.

The delivery of the first batch of mandarin oranges from Japan in the port of Vancouver is greeted with a festival that combines Santa Claus and Japanese dancers—young girls dressed in traditional kimonos. Historically, the Christmas fruit sold in North America was mostly Dancys, but now it is more often a hybrid. This Japanese tradition merged with European traditions related to the Christmas stocking. Saint Nicholas is said to have put gold coins into the stockings of three poor girls so that they would be able to afford to get married. Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags of gold, and oranges became a symbolic stand-in for these gold balls, and are put in Christmas stockings in Canada. Their use as Christmas gifts probably spread from the Japanese immigrant community. Mandarin oranges are mentioned in Sinclair Ross' 1942 novel, As for Me and My House, and his 1939 short story, Cornet at Night.

References

De La Cruz-Cabanillas, Isabel. (1 January 2008). "Chinese loanwords in the OED". Farlex, Inc.
(2019). "''Citrus reticulata'' 'Clementine'". Missouri Botanical Garden.
(2010). "Tango mandarin; ''Citrus reticulata'' Blanco". College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, [[University of California Riverside]].
Karp, David. (13 March 2014). "Market watch: The wild and elusive Dancy". [[Los Angeles Times]].
(2017). "AGRUMED: Archaeology and history of citrus fruit in the Mediterranean". Publications du Centre Jean Bérard.
(2014). "Next generation haplotyping to decipher nuclear genomic interspecific admixture in Citrus species: analysis of chromosome 2". BMC Genetics.
(August 2018). "Genome of Wild Mandarin and Domestication History of Mandarin". Molecular Plant.
(2021). "Diversification of mandarin citrus by hybrid speciation and apomixis". [[Nature Communications]].
(2018). "Genome of Wild Mandarin and Domestication History of Mandarin". Molecular Plant.
(2018). "Mandarin fruit quality: a review". Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.
(2020). "The Genus Citrus". Elsevier.
Karp, David. (13 January 2010). "The Seedless Kishu, a small but mighty mandarin". [[Los Angeles Times]].
(2011). "New universal mitochondrial PCR markers reveal new information on maternal citrus phylogeny". Tree Genetics & Genomes.
(2014). "Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the Middle-East".
(2018). "Genomics of the origin and evolution of ''Citrus''". [[Nature (journal).
(2024). "Mandarin orange production in 2022 (includes tangerines, clementines, and satsumas) from pick lists: World regions/Production quantity/Crops/Year". FAOSTAT, United Nations Corporate Statistical Database.
Karp. (3 February 2016). "Mandarin oranges, rising stars of the fruit bowl". [[The New York Times]].
Morton. (1987). "Mandarin orange; In: Fruits of Warm Climates, p. 142–145". Center for New Crops and Plant Products, Purdue University.
(23 May 2018). "Mandarine Napoléon - History".
"Information on This Week's Product: Mandarin Oranges". BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation.
(19 November 2014). "The Satsuma Mandarin". IFAS Extension, University of Florida.
"Christmas Stockings". Ministère de la culture et de la communication de France.
(2014). "Ark of Taste, Dancy Tangerine, ''Citrus Tangerina v. Dancy''".
(4 October 2008). "Personalized Christmas Stockings". Stocking Factory.
Marion, Paul. (19 December 2010). "Oranges at Christmas".
(24 January 2024). "CPW Celebrates 20 Years of Churchill Orchard's Kishu Mandarin Magic".
(2020-02-01). "A literary history of the Mandarin orange in Canada". Gastronomica.

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