Lemon

Lemon

Scientific name:  Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck

English name: Lemon

Local names: ‘Lebu’

Taxonomic Position According to Cronquist (1988)

Kingdom        : Plantae

Division          : Magnoliophyta

Class               : Magnoliopsida

Subclass          : Rosidae

Order              : Sapindales

Family             : Rutaceae

Genus               : Citrus

Species             : C. lemon

Botanical Description of Lemon

Habitat:Tree, 3-6 m tall with stout stiff spines.

Leaves:Leaves unifoliolate, petiolate, petioles marginate or narrowly winged, often articulated at the apex with base of blade, lamina oblong to elliptic-ovate, 6.0-12.5 x 3-6 cm, obtuse to rounded at the base, subacute or obtuse at the apex, glandular-serrulate along margin.

Inforescence: Inflorescence of axillary condensed racemes, often 5-7 flowered.

Flower:Flowers bisexual or staminate, 5-merous, purplish hi buds. Calyx urceolate, sepals suborbicular, minute. Petals ovate-oblong, obtuse, 15-20 x 3-5 mm, coriaceous, purplish tinged abaxially, greenish-white adaxially.

Androecium:Stamens 30-40, filaments monadelphous or irregularly polydelphous at the base, free above, anthers oblong, apiculate, 4-6 mm long, greenish-yellow.

Gynoecium:Ovary subcyiindric, greenish, styles thick, c 4 mm long, stigmas globose.

Fruit:Fruits ovoid-oblong, up to c 6 cm across, 8-12 locular, rind thick, mamillate, yellowish when ripe, pulp-vesicles pale green to yellowish, juice scanty or abundant, sour, acidic.

Seed:Seeds ovoid, acute, whitish inside when cut.

Economic Importance :Fruits are used in the preparation of lemonade squashes, in culinary and multiple purposes as a flavouring and garnish. Fruit juice is rich in Vitamin C, which improves resistance to infection, making it effective against cold and flu. It is taken as a preventive for stomach infections, remedy for scurvy, circulatory problems and arteriosclerosis. It is also an antiseptic,   antirheumatic,   antibacterial   and antioxidant. Essential oil possesses antibacterial properties. The fruit juice is popularly used as an appetizer, stomachic and in the treatment of nausea and vomiting. The juice is also used as a component of cosmetic skin preparations.

Table 1. Lemon varieties developed by Horticultural Research Center (HRC), BARI, Joydebpur, Bangladesh and Germplasm Centre, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh, Bangladesh