Still Life with Lemon. The lemon is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India, Northern Myanmar or China.
The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world, primarily for its juice, which has both culinary and cleaning uses. The pulp and rind are also used in cooking and baking.
The juice of the lemon is about 5% to 6% citric acid, with a pH of around 2.2, giving it a sour taste. The distinctive sour taste of lemon juice makes it a key ingredient in drinks and foods such as lemonade and lemon meringue pie.
See also: Citron ยง Origin and distribution The origin of the lemon is unknown, though lemons are thought to have first grown in Assam, northern Myanmar or China. A genomic study of the lemon indicated it was a hybrid between bitter orange and citron.
Lemons are supposed to have entered Europe near southern Italy no later than the second century AD, during the time of Ancient Rome although this has been contested. Evidence for this is inconclusive and modern theories ascribe the introduction of the lemon throughout the Mediterranean area to around 100 AD. Around 400 AD they were planted in orchards in Moorish Spain 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