Types and Cultivation of Citrus Fruits

Citrus fruits are incredibly important in terms of their direct as well as their indirect utilization. These fruits also offer a wide range of value-added products beyond their fresh consumption. Citrus extracts and essential oils find applications in food and beverage industry. Besides, they are also used in cosmetics and perfumery and for production of eco-friendly cleaning products. Citrus compounds, particularly flavonoids and limonoids, have potential health benefits and are used in pharmaceutical industry. They possess numerous medicinal properties, including anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and antithrombotic effects. Citrus fruit waste has agricultural applications and can even be used for the production of biofuel. Citrus fruits are borne by the plants belonging to the genus Citrus of sub-family Aurantioideae which comes under family Rutaceae. Botanically the fruit type is hesperidium. The tart taste or typical sharp flavor of the citrus fruits is because of their rich citric acid content. The taxonomy of the genus Citrus is quite complex as it includes a number of species, each with many varieties, cultivars, and hybrids growing in the wild as well as under cultivation. The citrus plants hybridize easily with apparently different looking Citrus species. The taxonomists believe that majority of the current cultivated species of the citrus fruits arose from the three primary species, namely, citrons, pummelos, and mandarins, which are known as Citrus medica, Citrus maxima, and Citrus reticulata, respectively. This chapter deals with the various currently existing types of citrus fruits and their cultivation.