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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.
Citrus reticulata is from Latin, where reticulata means "netted".
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.
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 the Shekwasha, and Nanfengmiju. 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 introgression 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.
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 , ice cream, chewing gum, and baked goods. It is used as a flavouring in some liqueurs.
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 . 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.
(2025). 9789401792752 ISBN 9789401792752 and Supplement
Production
In 2022, world production of mandarin oranges (combined with tangerines, clementines, and satsumas in reporting to FAOSTAT) was 44.2 million , 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% , and negligible amounts of fat and protein (table). Among , 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.
Cultural significance
In North America, mandarins are commonly purchased in 5- or 10-pound boxes, individually wrapped in soft green paper, and given in Christmas stockings. This custom goes back to the 1880s when Japanese immigrants in Canada and the United States began receiving Japanese mandarin oranges from their families back home as gifts for the New Year. The tradition spread among the non-Japanese population and eastwards across the country: each November harvest, "The oranges were quickly unloaded and shipped east by rail. 'Orange Trains' – trains with boxcars painted orange – alerted everyone along the way that the irresistible oranges from Japan were back again for the holidays. For many, the arrival of Japanese mandarin oranges signalled the beginning of the holiday season." 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.
See also
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