kumquat

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Kumquat
Malayan Kumquat foliage and fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Rosids Order: Sapindales Family: Rutaceae Subfamily: Aurantioideae Tribe: Citreae Genus: Fortunella (disputed) Swingle
Species
See text

Potted kumquat trees at a kumquat liqueur distillery in Corfu.

Nagami kumquat fruit

They are slow-growing, evergreen shrubs or short trees, from 2.5 to 4.5 metres (8 to 15 ft) tall, with sparse branches, sometimes bearing small thorns. The leaves are dark glossy green, and the flowers pure yellow, similar to other citrus flowers, borne singly or clustered in the leaf-axils. The kumquat tree produces 30 to 50 fruit each year. The tree can be hydrophytic, and fruit is often found floating near the shore during the kumquat season.^{[citation needed]}

Kumquats originated in China (they are noted in literature dating to the 12th century), and have long been cultivated there and in Japan. They were introduced to Europe in 1846 by Robert Fortune, collector for the London Horticultural Society, and shortly thereafter into North America. Originally placed in the genus Citrus, they were transferred to the genus Fortunella in 1915, though subsequent work (Burkill 1931, Mabberley 1998) favours their return to Citrus.

Cultivation and uses

Kumquats are cultivated in China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Japan, the Middle East, Europe (notably Corfu, Greece), southern Pakistan, and the southern United States (notably Florida and California).

They are much hardier than other citrus plants such as oranges. The 'Nagami' kumquat requires a hot summer, ranging from 25 to 38 °C (77 to 100 °F), but can withstand frost down to about −10 °C (14 °F) without injury. It grows in the tea hills of Hunan, China where the climate is too cold for other citrus fruits, even the Mikan (also known as the Satsuma) orange. The trees differ also from other Citrus species in that they enter into a period of winter dormancy so profound that they will remain through several weeks of subsequent warm weather without putting out new shoots or blossoms. Despite their ability to survive low temperatures, the kumquat trees grow better and produce larger and sweeter fruits in warmer regions.

Kumquat fruit cross-section

Uses

Kumquats are often eaten raw. As the rind is sweet and the juicy centre is sour and salty, the raw fruit is usually consumed either whole, to savour the contrast, or only the rind is eaten. The fruit is considered ripe when it reaches a yellowish-orange stage, and has just shed the last tint of green. The Hong Kong Kumquat has a rather sweet rind compared to the rinds of other citrus fruits.

Culinary uses include: candying and kumquat preserves, marmalade, and jelly. Kumquats appear more commonly in the modern market as a martini garnish, replacing the classic olive. They can also be sliced and added to salads. A liqueur can also be made by macerating kumquats in vodka or other clear spirit.

The Cantonese often preserve kumquats in salt or sugar. A batch of the fruit is buried in dry salt inside a glass jar. Over time, all the juice from the fruit is diffused into the salt. The fruit in the jar becomes shrunken, wrinkled, and dark brown in colour, and the salt combines with the juice to become a dark brown brine. A few salted kumquats with a few teaspoons of the brine/juice may be mixed with hot water to make a remedy for sore throats.^{[citation needed]} A jar of such preserved kumquats can last several years and still keep taste.^{[citation needed]}

In the Philippines, kumquats are a popular addition to both hot and iced tea.

In Vietnam, kumquat bonsai trees are used as a decoration for the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday. Kumquat fruits are also boiled or dried to make a candied snack called mứt quất.

Variants of the kumquat are grown specially in India.

Composition

The essential oil of kumquat peel contains much of the aroma of the fruit, and is composed principally of limonene, which makes up around 93% of the total.^[1]. Besides limonene and alpha-Pinene (0.34%), both monoterpenes, the oil is unusually rich (0.38% total) in sesquiterpenes such as α-bergamotene (0.021%), caryophyllene (0.18%), α-humulene (0.07%) and α-muurolene (0.06%), and these contribute to the spicy and woody flavour of the fruit. Carbonyl compounds make up much of the remainder, and these are responsible for much of the distinctive flavour; these include esters such as isopropyl propanoate (1.8%) and terpinyl acetate (1.26%), the ketone carvone (0.175%), and a range of aldehydes such as citronellal (0.6%) and 2-methylundecanal. Other oxygenated compounds include nerol (0.22%) and trans-linalool oxide (0.15%).^[1]

Etymology

The English name "kumquat" derives from the Cantonese pronunciation gam1 gwat1 (given in Jyutping romanization; Chinese: 金橘; pinyin: jīnjú; literally "golden orange"). The alternate name 柑橘, also pronounced gam1 gwat1 in Cantonese (gān jú in Mandarin, literally "large tangerine orange") is now more commonly written by Cantonese speakers.

Names in other Asian languages include:

• Japanese: kinkan (金柑)
• Korean: geumgyul (금귤, 金橘)
• Hokkien: gīm-gam (traditional Chinese: 金柑)
• Mandarin: jīnjú (金橘)
• Nepali: muntala
• Thai: somchíd (ส้มจี๊ด)
• Vietnamese: cam quất (derived from the Cantonese) or, less commonly, (quả) kim quất (if transliterated from the characters 金橘 into Sino-Vietnamese; "quả" (果) is the Sino-Vietnamese prefix for "fruit")

See also

• Limequat [A cross between a Lime and a Kumquat]
• Orangequat [A cross between an Orange and a Kumquat]
• Calamondin [A cross between a Tangerine and a Kumquat]
• Loquat [Although Loquats are not related botanically to Kumquats, the two names come from the same Chinese word for "orange."]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Koyasako, A; Bernhard, R.A. (1983). "Volatile Constituents of the Essential Oil of Kumquat" (in English). Journal of Food Science (Wiley & Sons) 48 (6): 1807 - 1812. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119541583/abstract. 

General references and external links

Look up kumquat in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Kumquat culture on CultureSheet.org
• Burkill, I. H. (1931). An enumeration of the species of Paramignya, Atalantia and Citrus, found in Malaya. Gard. Bull. Straits Settlem. 5: 212–220.
• Mabberley, D. J. (1998). Australian Citreae with notes on other Aurantioideae (Rutaceae). Telopea 7 (4): 333-344. Available online (pdf).
• Fruits of warm climates
• Fortunella crassifolia Swingle - Fruits and Seeds Flavon's Wild herb and Alpine plants
• Fortunella at Wikispecies