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Citrus is a genus of flowering plant trees and in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, Mandarin orange, , , , and limes.
Citrus is native to South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Melanesia, and Australia. Indigenous people in these areas have used and domesticated various species since ancient times. Its cultivation first spread into Micronesia and Polynesia through the Austronesian expansion (–1500 BCE). Later, it was spread to the Middle East and the Mediterranean () via the incense trade route, and from Europe to the Americas.
Renowned for their highly fragrant aromas and complex flavor, citrus are among the most popular fruits in cultivation. With a propensity to hybridize between species, making their taxonomy complicated, there are numerous varieties encompassing a wide range of appearance and fruit flavors.
The three ancestral species in the genus Citrus associated with modern Citrus cultivars are the mandarin orange, pomelo, and citron. Almost all of the common commercially important citrus fruits (sweet oranges, , grapefruit, limes, and so on) are hybrids between these three species, their main progenies, and other wild Citrus species within the last few thousand years. (2025). 9780199389414 ISBN 9780199389414
Citrus plants are native to subtropical and tropical regions of Asia, Island Southeast Asia, Near Oceania, and northeastern and central Australia. Domestication of citrus species involved much hybridization and introgression, leaving much uncertainty about when and where domestication first happened. A genomic, phylogenic, and biogeographical analysis by Wu et al. (2018) has shown that the center of origin of the genus Citrus is likely the southeast foothills of the Himalayas, in a region stretching from eastern Assam, northern Myanmar, to western Yunnan. It diverged from a common ancestor with Poncirus trifoliata. A change in climate conditions during the Late Miocene (11.63 to 5.33 mya) resulted in a sudden speciation event. The species resulting from this event include the ( Citrus medica) of South Asia; the ( C. maxima) of Mainland Southeast Asia; the mandarin orange ( C. reticulata), ( C. japonica), mangshanyegan ( C. mangshanensis), and ( C. cavaleriei) of southeastern China; the ( C. hystrix) of Island Southeast Asia; and the biasong and samuyao ( C. micrantha) of the Philippines.
This was followed by the spread of citrus species into Taiwan and Japan in the Early Pliocene (5.33 to 3.6 mya), resulting in the tachibana orange ( C. tachibana); and beyond the Wallace Line into Papua New Guinea and Australia during the Early Pleistocene (2.5 million to 800,000 years ago), where further speciation events created the .
Apart from these core species, and the recently discovered mangshanyegan are grown. and Clymenia spp. are now generally considered to belong within the genus Citrus. The false oranges, Oxanthera from New Caledonia, have been transferred to the Citrus genus on Phylogenetics evidence.Bayer, R. J., et al. (2009). A molecular phylogeny of the orange subfamily (Rutaceae: Aurantioideae) using nine cpDNA sequences. American Journal of Botany 96(3), 668–685. A recent taxonomy reincorporates the trifoliate orange ( Poncirus) into an enlarged Citrus, but recognizes that many botanists still follow Swingle in splitting it off.
The citron ( Citrus medica) was also introduced early into the Mediterranean basin from India and Southeast Asia. It was introduced via two ancient trade routes: an overland route through Persia, the Levant and the Mediterranean islands; and a maritime route through the Arabian Peninsula and Ptolemaic Egypt into North Africa. Although the exact date of the original introduction is unknown due to the sparseness of archaeobotanical remains, the earliest evidence are seeds recovered from the Hala Sultan Tekke site of Cyprus, dated to around 1200 BCE. Other archaeobotanical evidence includes pollen from Carthage dating back to the 4th century BCE; and carbonized seeds from Pompeii dated to around the 3rd to 2nd century BCE. The earliest complete description of the citron was written by Theophrastus, .
Lemons, pomelos, and sour oranges were introduced to the Mediterranean by Arab traders around the 10th century CE. Sweet oranges were brought to Europe by the Genoese and Portuguese from Asia during the 15th to 16th century. Mandarins were not introduced until the 19th century. (2025). 9782918887775, Publications du Centre Jean Bérard. ISBN 9782918887775 (2025). 9782918887775, Publications du Centre Jean Bérard. ISBN 9782918887775 Oranges were introduced to Florida by Spanish colonists. In cooler parts of Europe, citrus fruit was grown in orangery starting in the 17th century; many were as much status symbols as functional agricultural structures.
The fragrance of citrus fruits is conferred by and in the rind. The flavonoids include various and flavones. The carpels are juicy; they contain a high quantity of citric acid, which with other organic acids including ascorbic acid (vitamin C) give them their characteristic sharp taste. (2025). 9780323856836, Elsevier. ISBN 9780323856836 Citrus fruits are diverse in size and shape, as well as in color and flavor, reflecting their biochemistry; (2025). 9782918887775, Publications du Centre Jean Bérard. ISBN 9782918887775 for instance, grapefruit is made bitter-tasting by a flavanone, naringin.
The color of citrus fruits only develops in climates with a (diurnal) cool winter. In tropical regions with no winter at all, citrus fruits remain green until maturity, hence the tropical "green oranges". The terms 'ripe' and 'mature' are widely used synonymously, but they mean different things. A mature fruit is one that has completed its growth phase. Ripening is the sequence of changes within the fruit from maturity to the beginning of decay. These changes involve the conversion of starches to sugars, a decrease in acids, softening, and a change in the fruit's color. (2025). 9780521662512, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521662512 Citrus fruits are non-climacteric and respiration slowly declines and the production and release of ethylene is gradual.
OEC — The Observer of Economic Complexity, Fruit According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, citrus production grew during the early 21st century mainly by the increase in tillage areas, improvements in transportation and packaging, rising incomes and consumer preference for healthy foods. In 2019–20, world production of oranges was estimated to be 47.5 million tonnes, led by Brazil, Mexico, the European Union, and China as the largest producers.
A systematic review indicates that citrus fruit consumption is associated with a 10% reduction of risk for developing breast cancer.
A variety of flavors can be derived from different parts and treatments of citrus fruits. The colorful outer skin of some citrus fruits, known as zest, is used as a flavoring in cooking.
The whole of the bitter orange (and sometimes other citrus fruits) including the peel with its is cooked with sugar to make marmalade.
Citrus fruits "were the clear status symbols of the nobility in the ancient Mediterranean", according to the Paleoethnobotany Dafna Langgut. In Louisa May Alcott's 1868 novel Little Women, the character Amy March states that "It's nothing but limes now, for everyone is sucking them in their desks in schooltime, and trading them off for pencils, bead rings, paper dolls, or something else… If one girl likes another, she gives her a lime; if she’s mad with her, she eats one before her face, and doesn’t offer even a suck."
As ornamental plants
By the 17th century, Orangery were added to great houses in Europe, both to enable the fruit to be grown locally and for prestige, as seen in the Versailles Orangerie. Some modern hobbyists grow dwarf citrus in containers or greenhouses in areas where the weather is too cold to grow it outdoors; Citrofortunella hybrids have good cold resistance.
In art and culture
Lemons appear in paintings, pop art, and novels. A wall painting in the tomb of Nakht in 15th century BC Egypt depicts a woman in a festival, holding a lemon. In the 17th century, Giovanna Garzoni painted a Still Life with Bowl of Citrons, the fruits still attached to leafy flowering twigs, with a wasp on one of the fruits. The Impressionism Edouard Manet depicted a lemon on a pewter plate. In modern art, Arshile Gorky painted Still Life with Lemons in the 1930s.
See also
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