Lemon - History

History

The origin of the lemon is a mystery, though it is thought that lemons first grew in Southern India, northern Burma, and China. A study of the genetic origin of the lemon reported that it is a hybrid between sour orange and citron.

Lemons entered Europe near southern Italy no later than the 1st century AD, during the time of Ancient Rome. However, they were not widely cultivated. They were later introduced to Persia and then to Iraq and Egypt around 700 AD. The lemon was first recorded in literature in a 10th century Arabic treatise on farming, and was also used as an ornamental plant in early Islamic gardens. It was distributed widely throughout the Arab world and the Mediterranean region between 1000 and 1150.

The first substantial cultivation of lemons in Europe began in Genoa in the middle of the 15th century. The lemon was later introduced to the Americas in 1493 when Christopher Columbus brought lemon seeds to Hispaniola on his voyages. Spanish conquest throughout the New World helped spread lemon seeds. It was mainly used as an ornamental plant and for medicine. In the 18th and 19th centuries, lemons were increasingly planted in Florida and California.

In 1747, James Lind's experiments on seamen suffering from scurvy involved adding vitamin C to their diets with lemon juice.

The origin of the word lemon may be Middle Eastern. One of the earliest occurrences of "lemon" appears in a Middle English customs document of 1420–1421, which draws from the Old French limon, thence the Italian limone, from the Arabic laymūn or līmūn ليمون, and from the Persian līmūn لیمو, a generic term for the fruit of this kind, which is congnative with Sanskrit निम्ब (nimbū, “lime”).