The Satsuma Mandarin is one of the main citrus fruits and possibly the largest of all. The scientific name is Citrus unshiu Marc. It is cultivated mainly in southern Japan and southern Korea where it is eaten mainly as fresh fruit although some is further processed for desserts (Kim et al., 2001).
The fruit is attractive which makes it horticulturally useful too. It grows in the cool subtropics when winters are cool but summers hot. It is frost hardy and will withstand brief frost periods down to -7C. It is the most cold tolerant of all the mandarin orange species.
The tree needs full sun and a well-drained fertile soil with plenty of potash.
The fruit is described as an easy peeler and sold on that basis. It now makes up over 30% of total citrus production in China. It has suffered a decline in recent years because there was over-production of the fruit which depressed prices.
The dried peel is used as a condiment. It’s also canned as segments or juice in China, Spain and Japan. The fruit can be used as a part of a salad to accompany crustacea such as lobster. A number of Californian restaurants offer the fruit as an additional side to lobster for example.
References
, , . (2001). Changes of flavnoids in the peel of Jeju native citrus fruits during maturation. Food Sci Biotechnol 10: pp. 483– 7
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