'Lemon' a flavouring fruit from India

Lemon, precisely called ‘lime’ is a fruit, scientifically known as ‘Citrus limon’-produced by certain small evergreen trees belonging to the flowering plant family, ‘Rutaceae’.

It is mainly used to flavour various dishes and to make sauces, drinks, pickles and certain beauty and health products. Moreover, the fruit is also used outside the kitchen for cleaning and disinfecting purposes. The sweet, sour, acidic and tart flavour of the lemon fruit make it one of the most versatile fruits in the world used for various purposes.

The first use of lemon dates back to the 10th century. And it is believed to have originated from north-western India from where the fruit was later introduced to various parts of the world-especially to Egypt, southern Italy and Iran-centuries ago.

Lemon trees grow nearly in all types of soils provided that they are given good drainage. However, the plants thrive and bear more fruits in loamy or sandy mixture soils with sufficient organic matter in warm climates.

The trees normally grow up to 20 feet in height and take 3 to 5 years to start bearing the fruits that grow up to 3-4 cm in diameter - found in the oval to globular or round shapes and yellow in colour- once completely mature. And normally, a full-size mature tree produces 10-25 kg of fruits.

The lemon fruit is rich in folic acid, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, calcium, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, zinc, protein, phosphorus and vitamins C, A, E and B6.

The lemon is purported to help prevent diabetes, maintain blood pressure, prevent indigestion, treat constipation and various ailments. In addition, the appealing flavour, aroma and colour have made it a favourite citrus fruit across the world.

The largest producer of lemon in the world is India, followed by Mexico, China, Argentina, Brazil, Spain and Turkey. Spain is the largest exporter of lemon followed by Mexico, South Africa, Turkey and Netherlands while the US is the largest importer followed by France, Germany and Netherlands.

In India, Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer of lemon. And other main producers are Maharashtra, Odisha, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

Some of the main trading markets of lemon in India:

Andhra Pradesh (Eluru, Gudur, Kaligiri, Anantapur)

Maharashtra (Mumbai, Kurdu, Nimgul, Roha)

Tamil Nadu (Puliyangudi, Coimbatore, Thanjavur, Chennai)

Gujarat (Rajkot, Surat, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad)

Names of lemon in different Indian languages:

Hindi                   Neemboo

Tamil                   Elumiccai

Malayalam          Cherunaranga