The Search for the Authentic Citron (Citrus medica L.): Historic and Genetic Analysis

Abstract

The history of citrus and its spread from the centers of origin in Southeast Asia to the Mediterranean and other continents is a fascinating story that has been reported in considerable detail (Calabrese, 1998; Chapot, 1975; Tolkowsky, 1938). It is well accepted that the citron was the fi rst citrus fruit to reach the Near East and the Mediterranean. In addition to its medical qualities which had already been recognized by Theophrastus and the Roman Naturalists, the citron has been, and is still being used by the Jews for worship during the feast of Tabernacles. Thus the citron became a Jewish symbol and there is ample archaeological (Fig. 1) as well as textual evidence demonstrating its presence in Palestine from the second century B.C. onwards. According to most authorities, the next-to-arrive citrus fruits, lemon and sour orange, reached the Mediterranean only much later, during the Arabic era (7th century and onwards). This means that for a long time, perhaps as much as 1000 years, citrons were the only citrus fruit known in this area. Citrons were still very important during the 17th and 18th centuries, as indicated by the long text and numerous illustrations devoted to them in Hesperides of Ferrari (1646) (Fig. 2) and Volkamer (1708) (Fig. 3). The art of grafting was known to the Greeks and the Romans as well as to their Jewish contemporaries. According to the Jewish law grafting was permitted between two cultivars of the same species but interspecifi c grafts were prohibited. In the Talmudic sources of the Jewish law we fi nd a list of permissible and