13 Facts About Clementines

Clementines are a hybrid of an orange and a mandarin, and this variety was bred by the French priest and breeder Father Clement, after whom the exotic fruit got its name. Externally, clementines are similar to tangerines with one difference - there are practically no seeds in tangerines, and there are a lot of them in clementines. However, the aromatic, juicy, and sweet pulp more than neutralizes this minor drawback.

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Facts About Clementines

1. The clementine plant (Citrus Clementina) was first bred in 1902 by the French priest and breeder Brother Clement (Clement) Rodier. Its fruits resemble mandarin in shape but are sweeter.
2. Clementine fruits are small, orange in color, round with a hard skin, tightly attached to the juicy pulp. Clementine is notable for its sweet taste and lack of seeds in the fruit.
3. Clementines are rich in vitamin C and other nutrients. In some cases, there are contraindications: like other citrus fruits, clementines can be dangerous for people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Clementines should not be consumed concurrently with drugs, since the substances they contain often increase the effect of drugs several times.
4. Now there are more than a dozen different varieties of clementine, which differ in size, ripening season, and geography of growth.
5. We will mention one of them - the Fine de Corse variety, which is grown in Corsica; there it is protected by the geographical appellation of origin - La clémentine de Corse with the status of IGP (Indication géographique protégée).
6. Clementine fruits are consumed fresh and for the manufacture of tangerine juice and compote. They are used in fruit salads and desserts; they are candied and added to brandy; the juice is frozen for sorbet and mixed with drinks; liqueurs are made on clementines. As a spice, clementine is used to make sauces, fish, poultry, and rice dishes.
7. The fruit rind is used as a substitute for orange peel in the preparation of various medicines, infusions, syrups, extracts, as well as in the food industry.
8. To pick a good fruit, look at its skin. A dried, sluggish, or in places woody skin indicates that the fruit is lying for a long time or is overripe. Unripe clementine is heavy, the skin is almost all green, and is very difficult to peel off. A sign of poor quality clementine is the presence of mildew, brown spots, or areas of decay.
9. It is very easy to determine the ripeness of clementines by the ratio of their size and weight since all ripe clementines always weigh less than they seem at first glance.
10. Clementines are best preserved in a special compartment of the refrigerator, where they do not rot and do not dry out for up to a month. But even in this case, the fruits must be viewed regularly: if, before the vegetables are stored for storage, the process of decay has already begun in the fruits and they were spoiled, then a decrease in temperatures will not stop it.
11. At room temperature, clementines deteriorate even faster, and in too warm a room they also dry out, losing not only useful properties but also their taste.
12. The simple method of storing fruit in a plastic bag, so popular with most people, is actually bad: high humidity is created in the bag and the fruit suffocates.
13. It is believed that the fruits on which the twig has survived stay fresh longer, but these are extremely rare on sale.