Citron

The citron (Citrus medica) is a large, fragrant citrus fruit with a thick, bumpy rind. It looks like a bigger lemon. As one of the original citrus species, it is the ancestor from which all other citrus fruits evolved, either through natural hybridization or human breeding. Although citron varieties come in many different shapes, they are all genetically very similar. People use citron in Asian and Mediterranean cooking, traditional medicine, perfume, and in religious ceremonies and offerings. Commercially, hybrids of the citron with other citrus fruits are more important—lemons and many limes, for example, were created using citrons.

The fruit’s name comes from the Latin word *citrus*, which also gave the genus its name. The scientific name *Citrus medica* refers to Media, the ancient kingdom of the Medes, where people once thought the fruit originated (though it actually comes from elsewhere).

A common confusion is that the English word “citron” and the French word “citron” are false friends: in French, “citron” means lemon, while the French word for citron is “cédrat.” Up until the 16th century, English speakers used “citron” to include lemons and possibly limes too. Many other languages—including Armenian, Czech, Dutch, Finnish, German, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Esperanto, Polish, and the Scandinavian languages—use a variant of “citron” to mean lemon. In Italian, the citron is called “cedro,” the same word used for the cedar tree. Similarly, in Latin, “citrus” or “thyine wood” referred to the wood of a North African cypress, *Tetraclinis articulata*. In Indo-Iranian languages, it is called “toranj,” as opposed to “naranj” (bitter orange). Both names were borrowed into Arabic and later brought to Spain and Portugal after the Muslim occupation in 711 AD. From there, “naranj” became the source of the word “orange” through rebracketing, while “toranj” gave rise to “toronja” in Spanish and “toranja” in Portuguese, which today mean grapefruit. Dutch merchants import a thick, light green candied citron peel called succade (from the Indonesian word “sukade,” meaning love), which comes from the *Citrus medica* variety ‘Macrocárpa’ and can weigh up to 2.5 kilograms. A bitter taste is removed by salting before it is processed into confectionery. In Hebrew, the citron is called “etrog” (אתרוג); in Yiddish, it is pronounced “esrog” or “esreg.” It plays an important role in the harvest holiday of Sukkot, where it is used together with lulavim (date palm fronds).

The citron is an old and original citrus species. Molecular evidence shows that most cultivated citrus species arose from the hybridization of a small number of ancestral types: citron, pomelo, mandarin, and to a lesser extent, papedas and kumquat. Citrons are usually self-pollinating, which makes them highly genetically uniform. In any citrus hybrid, the citron is the male parent, not the female one. Archaeological evidence for citrus fruits is scarce because seeds and pollen rarely survive. The citron is thought to have originated in the southeast foothills of the Himalayas. Despite its scientific name, which comes from the old Greek term “Median pome,” the fruit was not native to Media or ancient Media. It was mostly grown along the shores of the Caspian Sea (north of Mazandaran and Gilan) on its way to the Mediterranean, where it was later cultivated in various areas, as described by Erich Isaac. Many historians credit Alexander the Great and his armies, during their campaigns in Iran and what is now Pakistan, with spreading the citron westward to countries like Greece and Italy.

In antiquity, the Book of Leviticus mentions the “fruit of the beautiful (‘hadar’) tree” as required for ritual use during the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:40). According to Jewish rabbinical tradition, this refers to the citron. The Mishna Sukkah, from around the 2nd century AD, deals with the halakhic rules regarding the citron. Egyptologist and archaeologist Victor Loret claimed to have identified the citron depicted on the walls of the botanical garden at the Karnak Temple, dating back to the time of Thutmosis III, about 3,500 years ago. The citron was also cultivated in Sumer as early as the 3rd millennium BC. It has been grown since ancient times, predating the cultivation of other citrus species.

Theophrastus gave this description of the citron: In the east and south there are special plants—for example, in Media and Persia there are many types of fruit, among them one called the Median or Persian Apple. The tree has leaves similar to those of the *andrachn* (*Arbutus andrachne* L.) and thorns like those of the *apios* (wild pear, *Pyrus amygdaliformis* Vill.) or the firethorn (*Cotoneaster pyracantha* Spach.), except the thorns are white, smooth, sharp, and strong. The fruit is not eaten but is very fragrant, as is the leaf. Placed among clothes, it keeps moths away. It is also useful if someone has drunk deadly poison: when administered in wine, it upsets the stomach and brings up the poison. It also improves breath: if one boils the inner part of the fruit in a dish or squeezes it into the mouth in some other medium, it makes the breath more pleasant. The seed is removed from the fruit and sown in spring in carefully tilled beds, watered every fourth or fifth day. Once the plant is strong, it is transplanted, also in spring, to a soft, well-watered site where the soil is not too fine, for it prefers such places. It bears fruit at all seasons, for when some fruit is gathered, more appears.