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Botanical name: Citrus
Earliest recorded medicinal uses: Greek philosopher Theophrastus known as the “father of botany” wrote about citrus in 300 BC. Pliny the Elder a Roman naturalist wrote about the medicinal benefits of citrus in 50 AD.
Lemon, lime, orange, and grapefruit trees or shrubs are part of the Rutaceae or Citrus family. We are talking about the actual fruit not a bottle of juice off the grocery store shelf, those are packed with refined sugars, and “natural flavors” which is not a regulated term by the FDA, it can be anything!!! Not all oranges are as beneficial as the next. All of our vegetables and fruits have been manipulated to be pretty and have a delicate flavor, most of the benefits have essentially been bred out. You will get 10 times the nutrients from a handful of Dandelion leaves than a pound of Spinach. Some of the most beneficial citrus today are Key lime, Blood orange, Kumquat, Grapefruit, Citron, Kaffir lime, Tangelo, Finger lime, Mandarin, Pomelo and Yuzu to name a few. These citrus fruits are 10-20 times more beneficial than the everyday Lisbon and Eureka lemons or Navel oranges in most produce departments. The benefits from the peels are astounding! Animals don’t eat the peels because they are dumb, it’s quite the opposite! Many other countries use citrus peels daily like Latin America, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa, and many people eat the peels along while flesh. ORGANIC is ALWAYS a must!!! Citrus peels contain an awful amount of pesticides and herbicides. Conventionally, meaning grown with synthetic chemicals, does not have the nutritional value that organically grown produce has. It has been forced to grow faster, the cells are created with synthetic chemicals, and those chemicals remain in the produce. There is no way to “flush” them completely from any produce.
Avoid if allergic to, have gastroesophageal reflux. Some statin drugs to lower cholesterol like Zocor (simvastatin) and Lipitor (atorvastatin) Drugs that treat high blood pressure, like Procardia and Adalat CC (both nifedipine). Organ-transplant rejection drugs, like Neoral and Sandimmune capsules or oral solution (both cyclosporine).
Constituents include but are not limited to carotenoids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, coumarins, citric acid, limonene, pectin, nootkatone, linalool, citral, vitamins and minerals.
Its potential health benefits include but are not limited to digestive health, protection against kidney stones, the antioxidants in citrus have been shown to lower risk of esophageal, lung, stomach, breast, and pancreatic cancers, the flavonoids and polyphenols have been shown to boost brain function and decrease cognitive decline, decrease blood pressure, and boost the immune system.
Most common ways to use are eaten raw, juiced, tincture, mel, teas, scurvy punch.
Lemon, orange, and grapefruit
Mentions in Bible-
Leviticus 23:40
NIV translation On the first day you are to take the choice fruit from the trees, and palm fronds, leafy branches and poplars, and rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.
Translations from Aramaric
Lamsa Bible And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruits of goodly trees, citron, branches of palm trees, myrtle, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days, all the people of the house of Israel.
Peshitta Holy Bible Take to you in the first day the fruit of beautiful orange trees and the hearts of palm trees and myrtle and willow, and rejoice before LORD JEHOVAH your God seven days, all of the house of Israel.
Excerpt taken from Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/etrog-the-beautiful-fruit/
The Torah (Lev. 23:4) commands that on the first day of Sukkot one must take Four Species, including something deemed a pri eitz hadar (translated as “a beautiful fruit of a tree” or “a fruit of a beautiful tree”). As we will explain in this essay, this term refers to the citron fruit, also known more technically as the Citrus medica. Besides hadar, other Hebrew/Aramaic terms that refer to this fruit include etrog, etronga, trunga, and tapuach. In this essay, we will examine these various synonyms for the citron and show how they differ from one another.
The best outside confirmation we have of the citron identification is archeological evidence from the Royal Garden in Ramat Rachel (southern Jerusalem), where archeologists analyzed fossilized pollen that proves that citron trees already grew in the Holy Land in the time of the Persian rule (that is, during the Babylonian Exile and the early decades of the Second Temple period). Dr. Zohar Amar (of Bar Ilan University) clarifies that the fact that scholars have not yet found any evidence that citrons grew in the Holy Land before the Persian Period does not prove that it was only imported then, because the sporadic nature of Archaeobotany cannot give us a complete picture of the Holy Land’s entire floral oeuvre.
Photo credit https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/3467/the-peculiar-history-of-the-etrog/#
Etrog
Scurvy PUNCH
Organic a must!
My recipe usually contains 4 oranges, 4 grapefruit, 4 lemons, 4 apples, and 5 quarts of water. You can change it up to fit your needs.
I add the apples to mellow out the tartness and because I usually have a ton of apples around. I toss any fruit, whole with peel and seeds, that is on its way out into the freezer to add to my next batch of scurvy punch.
Wash and chop whole fruit. Peels, seeds, and core everything goes in. Add to a large pot, and add water. Bring to a low simmer, lid on is a must! Let simmer very low for 2 hours, no need to stir while simmering, keep that lid on lots of volatile oils in steam. Let it cool, I let it sit overnight on the stove. Strain in cheesecloth if the pulp bothers you, use a colander if you don’t mind pulp.
I add powdered beetroot and sometimes pureed fresh ginger root to mine for high blood pressure control and other benefits from beets. Drink 6-8 ozs 1-2 times daily.
Great for the immune system, blood pressure, antioxidant, and digestive health.
PRESERVED LEMONS
Organic is a must!
Preserved lemons are super easy and an amazing way to add flavor and the benefits of citrus peels to your food. You can most definitely make preserved limes, oranges, and grapefruit, it works for any citrus.
For a quart-sized jar, you’ll need 8-9 lemons and 3/4 cup of Himalayan, Redmond, or Celtic salt. Avoid any refined salts, too many synthetic chemicals.
Scrub the lemons. Slice in quarters leaving bottom intact. Open the lemon and place a teaspoon of salt inside, open in the opposite direction, and place another teaspoon of salt and place in a clean jar. I will squish in a quarter of a lemon if there is an open space where a whole lemon won’t fit, sprinkle each layer with salt. The idea is to make sure all the lemons are coated with salt and the jar is packed tight. Once filled you want to juice the extra lemons to fill the jar making sure the lemons are covered. Add in any remaining salt.
Leave in a dark cool area for 2-4 weeks, I do 4 weeks, shaking every other day or more. Once flesh has a translucent look and rinds become tender place in refrigerator. Some say use within 6 months others say good indefinitely as long as covered in brine. I’ve made half-gallon size jars and they were great for the 2 years it took to use them up.
I mostly use the brine and peels in dishes, I find the flesh bitter. Remember when using you will likely not need to add salt to your dishes. They are great in so many dishes that call for lemon, roasted meats, sauces, marinades, rice, and salad dressings to name a few. Very common in North African, Indian, Southeast Asian, and Middle Eastern cuisines.
I added the juice from a blood orange because I ran out of lemons.