Mandarins
The history of mandarins
Mandarins originated in South East Asia. A Chinese monograph, dated 1178, describes the 27 best varieties of oranges and mandarins. The name of this fruit points to its Chinese roots. In ancient times this juicy and aromatic fruit was only available to the richest and high born Chinese, the mandarins.
This fruit was brought to Europe and America by traders from Southern China and the Far East in the 18th century. Mandarins became popular straight away. Initially they were only grown in greenhouses, then in the south of France and Italy and later mandarin trees appeared in other European countries with mild climates. Incidentally the mandarin tree is an evergreen tree with a spreading crown from 2 to 8 metres high. Global production of mandarins is constantly growing. The main producing countries today are Morocco, China, Brazil, Korea, Italy, Algeria and Greece.
Mandarins and health
Like most citrus fruit, mandarins preserve there vitamins very well without hardly any loss during long storage and transportation. Mandarin flesh makes up about 65% of the fruit's weight. Mandarin flesh contains pectines, glycosides (the main glycoside in mandarins is tangeritin), mineral salts, essential oils, vitamins C, P, B1, B2 , provitamin A, vitamin D, which helps prevent rickets, and vitamin K which helps blood vessel elasticity.
Mandarin skin contains essential oils (up to 2.5%) bitterness, dyes and pectines, organic acid, flavonoids, vitamin C and carotin. Apart from its juicy flesh and its skin the pith is also beneficial. It contains many glycosides that strengthen blood vessels. Mandarin juice also contains potassium, magnesium and calcium. It helps the metabolism and digestion and increases appetite, which is useful if suffering from hyper- or avita-minosis.
Fresh mandarin peel helps the stomach and stimulates digestion. It is also used to treat vomiting, stomach ache, diarrhoea and bronchitis. Dried peel calms the central nervous system and prolongs the effect of pain relievers.
