2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Clementine (lat. Citrus clementina) - a fruit tree from the Rutovye family.
Description
Clementine is a rather successful hybrid of mandarin and juicy but rather bitter Seville orange, obtained in 1902 by Pierre Clement, a famous collector and priest from France.
The shape of the fruits of this plant is very similar to all the usual tangerines - they are the same spherical and not at all large. But they taste much sweeter. All fruits are colored in bright orange tones, and on top they are covered with a rather hard skin, which is very tightly connected to the incredibly juicy pulp.
Clementines ripen mainly in September or October - the harvested crop is immediately sent to the markets, where it will not be difficult to acquire it until February.
Today, three varieties of clementine are especially common: Montreal, as well as Spanish and Corsican.
Where grows
Clementine grows mainly in Mediterranean countries - in Italy and distant Algeria, as well as in Morocco and sunny Spain.
Application
These fruits are eaten fresh, periodically sugared, and also added to some alcoholic beverages and squeezed out of excellent juice, which is often added to all kinds of cocktails and alcohol-free drinks, and is also frozen for the subsequent manufacture of sorbet. And the British use these fruits to make wonderful liqueurs and rich marinades.
Clementine is endowed with a huge number of useful properties - in this it is very similar to other members of the Rutaceae family. Moreover, in a cold place, these fruits can be stored for a long time without processing - due to this, almost all useful properties are preserved in them.
These juicy fruits are enriched with vitamin C, which has long since gained fame as a powerful antioxidant that promotes the absorption of a huge amount of all kinds of substances that come together in food. It perfectly strengthens the thinning walls of capillaries and very vulnerable vessels, and also helps the gland to be absorbed better. The systematic use of these fruits allows not only to prevent, but also to get rid of a great variety of various ailments. They will be especially useful during epidemics of influenza or ARVI, because they are an excellent general tonic.
Vitamins of group B perfectly help to maintain immunity and have an extremely beneficial effect on the nervous system, and vitamin E, which acts as an antioxidant, helps to slow down the aging process, and this slowdown occurs at the genetic level. And the most important vitamin of the outstanding representatives of the citrus genus is rutin, which in every possible way contributes to the normalization of blood pressure and is endowed with powerful decongestants, as well as pronounced antispasmodic and excellent anti-inflammatory properties.
Clementine is an excellent helper for a wide variety of digestive disorders (regular hiccups, progressive dyspepsia, stomach cramps, gastritis, intestinal cramps, etc.). And regular consumption of juice squeezed from these fruits helps to regulate metabolism and significantly improve appetite.
The essential oil from these wonderful fruits, which has a pronounced analgesic and excellent sedative effect, is in no less demand. And in aromatherapy, it is widely used as an antidepressant.
Contraindications
Clementine is a fairly potent primary allergen, so caution should be exercised when using it. And expectant mothers and lactating women need to stop using it altogether. These fruits also have other contraindications: enteritis, stomach ulcers, nephritis, colitis and gastritis accompanied by increased acidity.
