Lemon

The lemon is a small evergreen tree. The juice of the lemon is about 5% to 6% citric acid, which makes it taste sour. The sour taste of lemon juice makes it an ingredient in drinks and foods such as lemonade and lemon soda.

Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Plantae

Order: Sapindales

Family: Rutaceae

Genus: Citrus

Species: C. x limon

Binomial name: Citrus x limon(often given as C. limon)

Varieties
The 'Bonnie Brae' is oblong, smooth, thin-skinned, and seedless. Mostly grown in San Diego County which is in California.

The bush lemon tree, a naturalized lemon, grows wild in Australia. It grows to about 4 m in locations with a lot of sun shines.

The 'Eureka'(also known as 'Four Seasons) grows through the whole year. This is the common supermarket lemon. This variety is also available as a plant to customers.

The 'Femminello St. Teresa', or 'Sorrento' grows in Italy. It is the variety traditionally used to make limoncello(a lemon-flavoured Italian liqueur).

The 'Jhambiri' (also known as rough lemon and bush lemon) has a rough skin and very sour pulp. It is used as a rootstock in South Asia.

The 'Lisbon' is a good-quality bitter lemon with high juice and acid levels, Lisbon is very similar to Eureka. The productive trees are very thorny, especially when they're young.

The 'Meyer' is a lemon between a lemon and possibly an orange or a mandarin, and was named after Frank N. Meyer, who first discovered it in 1908. Thin-skinned and slightly less acidic than the Lisbon and Eureka lemons, Meyer lemons require more care when shipping and are not widely grown on a commercial basis. Meyer lemons have a thin rind, and have a yellow-orange color.

The 'Ponderosa' is more cold-sensitive than other lemons, the fruit are thick-skinned and are large.

The 'Variegated Pink' is a varietal of the 'Eureka' or 'Lisbon' cultivars with variegated patterns in the foliage and the rinds of immature green fruit. Upon maturing to yellow, the variegated pattern recedes in the fruit rind. The flesh and juice are pink and sometimes pinkish-orange instead of yellow.

The 'Verna' is a Spanish lemon variety with unknown origin.

The 'Yen Ben' is an Australasian lemon.

Uses
Lemon juice, rind, and zest are used to make foods and drinks. Lemon juice is used to make lemonade, soft drinks(like lemon soda), and cocktails. It is used in marinades for fish and meat, but the low pH destroys the proteins, causing them to dry when cooked. Lemon juice is frequently used in the United Kingdom to add to pancakes.

Lemon juice is also used as a short-term preservative on certain foods that oxidize and turn brown after being sliced, such as apples, bananas, and avocados.

Lemon juice and rind are used to make lemon liqueur. Lemon slices and lemon rind are used as a garnish for food and drinks. Lemon zest, the outer rind of the fruit, is used to add flavor to baked food such as puddings and rice.

Preserved lemons are a part of Moroccan cuisine. They are also one of the main ingredients in a lot of Indian dishes.

The leaves of the lemon tree are used to make a tea and for preparing cooked meats and seafoods.

Industrial
Lemons were a source of citric acid before the development of fermentation.

Cleaning Agent
The juice of the lemon may be used for cleaning. A halved lemon dipped in salt or baking powder is used to brighten copper cookware. As a kitchen deodoriser, the juice can deodorize, remove grease, bleach stains, and disinfect; when mixed with baking soda, it removes stains from plastic food storage containers. The oil of the lemon's peel also has diferentt uses. It is used as a wood cleaner and polish, where its dissolve old wax, fingerprints, and grime. Lemon oil and orange oil are also used as a nontoxic insecticide treatment.

A halved lemon is used as a finger moistener for those counting large amounts of bills, such as tellers and cashiers. Its oil can make fingers wet so it gets easier to count money.

Medicine
Lemon oil may be used in aromatherapy. Lemon oil aroma doesn't effect the human immune system, but may enhance mood. The low pH of juice makes it antibacterial, and in India, the lemon is used in Indian traditional medicines.

Other
One educational science experiment involves attaching electrodes to a lemon and using it as a battery to produce electricity. Although very low power, several lemon batteries can power a small digital watch. These experiments also work with other fruits and vegetables.

Lemon juice is also sometimes used as an acid in educational science experiments.

Lemon juice may be used as a simple invisible ink, developed by heat.