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Thekishu mikan (Citrus kinokuni exTanaka), from JapaneseKishū mikan (紀州蜜柑), is a hybrid variety ofmikan, ormandarin orange (Citrus reticulata), found in SouthernChina and also grown inJapan.[1]
The fruit is also known asBaby Mandarin,Tiny Tangerine,Mini Mandarin andKishu Mandarin. It is sold under the brand name "Cherry Orange" in Europe. It is shaped like a mandarin, between 25 and 50 mm (0.98 and 1.97 in) in diameter. The fruit's orange skin is thin and smooth.
Some varieties of kishu,[2] such as the mukaku kishu, are seedless.[3] The species is used in creating seedless hybrid citrus.[4] The largest variety is the hira kishu.[3]
Under theTanaka system of citrustaxonomy, the kishu mikan was categorized as a separate species namedCitrus kinokuni, while theSwingle system grouped it with other pure and hybrid mandarins as a single species,Citrus reticulata. It may also be called theKinokuni group. In the 2010s, genetic sequencing allowed resolution of taxonomic debate, placing kishus and a number of other mandarin varieties as mutated clones of one another. All of them are the offspring of a single mildly-hybrid citrus (citrus plants generally hybridize freely). SeeKishu mikan#Relatives below.
The fruit is thought to have arisen in Southern China; it is believed to have been grown since the 700s.[5] Its name was recorded in the records ofJianchang during theMing Dynasty, and its agricultural growth is widespread inJiangxi province.[6] The variety was introduced to Japan around 1200.[5]
TheKishū Tokugawa family, the Kishu branch of the influentialTokugawa clan, ruledKishū Domain, and is said to have promoted the farming of mandarins on the hillsides aroundArida, which were too steep to be readily terraced for rice production.Kinokuniya Bunzaemon (1669-1734) grew rich transporting the fruit to Edo (modern-dayTokyo).[7] The scientific term "kinokuni [citrus] group" refers to kishu mandarins. Kishu mandarins remained the most popular citrus in Tokyo until the 1800s.[5]
Kishu mikan were introduced to America in the 1800s but were not widely known.[5] A seedlesscultivar was developed for commercial production starting in 1983 at theUniversity of California Citrus Research Center but citrus researchers dismissed the kishus as too small to be commercially viable. However, kishus became a favorite for graduate students and staff at UCR and was featured in the UCR Citrus Variety Collection conducted by Ottillia Biehr in 2000. It was there that Jim Churchill and Lisa Brenneis of Churchill Orchard were introduced to the tiny fruit. They thought it was "cute" and went on to be the first to produce kishus commercially in the United States with the planting of an initial block of 50 specially ordered kishu trees in Ojai Valley, California.[8][9][10][11] By the 1990s, the fruit had entered the market,[5] and started to become widely available in the US around 2010.[2]
The fruit became commercially available inEurope in 2006. It is also grown in Australia.[5]
Picked but unpeeled, kishu mandarins will keep for a week at room temperature, up to twice that when refrigerated.[12]
The fruit is enveloped in a thin skin (0.11 cm or 0.043 in thick[citation needed]) which secretes a mildly aromatic oil. It peels easily. The skin is dried aschenpi and used as seasoning, for instance inshichimi togarashi[12] and chocolate.[13]
The fruit usually has 7–14 sections.[12] The alba (white lining of the skin) tends to come away cleanly with the skin, and the membranes between the segments are very thin. The cell walls within the segments are imperceptibly thin.[14] Some varieties are seedless; others have seeds.[2]
The taste is bright, juicy,[15][12] sweet and rich but not notably tangy;[14] the acidity is balanced by the high sweetness (11-14Brix).[12] The candy-like taste, loose peel, and small size make kishu mandarins popular with children.[2][14][12]
Kishu mandarin trees are commonly planted in household gardens in Japan, and grown ingreenhouses, pots on balconies, sunny rooms, and commercialorchards.[5]
They are smallevergreen andperennial trees; they can live for centuries.[5] Trees are often sold when about knee-high.[16] They grow rapidly to a size of about 4 feet (1.2 meters) in diameter and 10 feet (3.0 m) in height[5] (in pots, shorter: 7–8 ft or 2.1–2.4 m[16]).
The trees flower abundantly in spring, around April in the northern hemisphere. Trees areself-fertile;[17] manual transfer ofpollen betweenblossoms (even just by shaking the branches) can improve yield. Trees thrive in highhumidity but require well-drained soil. They require five hours of sun each day and will grow well and fruit in temperatures ranging from 55–75 °F (13–24 °C). If grown in containers, they can be taken indoors at night.[5]
There is some disagreement about their degree of cold-hardiness. They are moderatelycold-hardy citrus, but it is said of the seedlessmukakukishu variety that trees should be taken indoors or wrapped in a frost cloth when temperatures fall below either freezing,[18] or 20 °F (−7 °C). It is said of the same variety that they are cold-hardy down to 5 °C (41 °F)[19] or −10 °F (−23 °C). It is said that it can be grown in patio pots inhardiness zone 4-11, and in zones 8-11 outdoors,[20] or in zones 3-11 patio and 8-11 outdoors,[21] or in zones 9-10.[22] Kishu mikan trees may be grafted onto variousrootstocks.[23][19][16] Rootstock hardiness may affect tree hardiness.
Thefruit grows to 1–2 in (25–51 mm) in size and is harvested in mid-winter; in theNorthern Hemisphere, this is November to February, depending on the local climate. Trees may fruit in their first year and typically yield 88 lb (40 kg) of fruit annually.[5]
When the fruit is left on the tree for too long, it can lose its flavor,[5] with the fruit becoming puffy and losing its acidity. Older trees may produce smaller fruits.[2]
The fruit needs to be handled with care to avoid damage; it is usually picked by hand.[12] Its small size makes harvesting and sorting it more labour-intensive per unit weight.[2]
Seedless varieties are popular in the United States, but were traditionally considered unlucky in Japan, where seeded varieties are preferred in the belief that the seeds represent family members and descendants.[12][7] Kishu mandarins became traditional Christmas gifts in Canada, a custom which probably spread from the Japanese immigrant community.[24]
Kishu mandarins are often propagated asbudwood grafts,[23] like other citrus (many can also reproduce asexually throughapomixis). This means that all specimens of a citruscultivar (citrus variety) are essentially clones of one another. Some of these clones mutate,somatic mutations that formbud sports; useful sports are then widely propagated by humans as new cultivars. A large number of mandarin varieties have been found to be mutant clone-siblings of kishu mandarins. These include:[25]
