Everything You Ever Need To Know About Lemons 🍋 (Drew's Digest #05)

The benefits of lemon juice reach further than health, they are actually great around the house - Find out how below.

Where do lemons come from?

Lemons originated somewhere in India or China and was first cultivated around 2500 years ago (possibly up to 4000 years). From there it spread across the globe and became a popular food item in Europe in the 15th century. The English word we now use, lemon, was derived from the French word ‘limon’ in the 14th century 🏯

What are lemons exactly?

Lemons are a citrus fruit (..duh!), which share the same family with things like oranges and mandarins, which all have relatively thin skins and contain segments full of juice. They are a cross between a lime and a citron and grow on short to medium sized trees, depending on the variety 🌲

The Eureka lemon is the most common variety and produces fruit all year round. Many other varieties exist – from being crossed with other citrus fruits like mandarins and oranges – creating differences in shape, colour, flavour and fragrance

When are lemons available?

The major producers of lemons are China, India and Mexico but are grown widely across Asia to Europe, and the Americas. Winter in Australia (June – Oct/Nov) is when lemons are most abundant and are relatively cheap, compared to the summer months when imported fruits drive the price back up 🌏

Lemons are pretty much available all year round because the trees produce such a large amount of fruit (even my baby dwarf lemon tree has at least 20-30 fruits).

How do I choose and store lemons?

Lemons are one of the easiest products to store and take little effort to keep fresh. To store them at room temperature, simply throw them in your fruit bowl away from direct sunlight and use within a week. Leave them any longer and they will begin to dry out and you won’t extract as much juice out of them.

They can also be stored in the refrigerator where they will keep for up to a month. Place them in a dry zip lock bag, remove as much air as possible and put them in the crisper until needed.

The freezer is also your friend in this case. Some people cut lemons up into wedges and freeze them inside zip-lock bags. When you want a nice cold refreshing drink, pop a wedge or two into a glass of water and you have an ice cube and lemon combined ❄️

Lemon juice can also be stored for later use in ice cube trays. All you have to do is squeeze and freeze. Measure it out in each ice cube so you have ready to use portions of frozen lemon juice for any type of recipe.

How do I use lemons?

Lemons would have to be the most versatile fruit available. The juice and rind can be added to just about any dish and cuisine imaginable.

The zest is more commonly used in cakes and sweets. But the juice is used to add sourness and acidity to a meal, or sauce, to create a balance against other flavours in a dish.

Add it to homemade salad dressings, stir-fries, steamed or roasted vegetables, sweets and baked goods, even give fruits and vegetables a squeeze to prevent browning – the list truly goes on and on. (My favourite – toast w/ avocado and sliced tomato, sprinkle with salt/pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice + sriracha if you’re daring) 🥗

Vegan Homemade Lemon Ice Cream

Because it is so fragrant it can be used as a natural deodoriser to freshen up the microwave or fridge, with applications stretching far beyond the kitchen.

Why should I use lemons?

Health benefits

Vitamin C plays a role in assisting iron absorption. So have lemon juice with iron-rich foods like leafy greens, beans and lentils. Juice from just half a lemon contains up to 20% of our RDI for Vitamin C! (That is around 1 .5 tablespoons)

Apart from Vitamin C, many other active phytonutrients in lemon juice have health benefits. Limonin (a chemical cleaved from limonin glucoside after eating citrus fruits) is responsible for the bitter taste in some fruits. Studies have shown that limonin remains in the bloodstream for up to 24 hours after fruit consumption – which may be why it has potential anti-cancer activity.

Another chemical in lemons are coumarins – may also inhibit the growth and development of tumors and cancers. Polyphenols, such as flavonoids and anthocyanins, also have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Household uses

Lemons also have other uses in the kitchen, aside from being added to dishes. The citric acid and ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) in lemons are what prevents enzymatic (oxidative) browning in fruits and vegetables. Fruit salads and freshly cut fruit brown quickly and a squeeze of lemon juice can slow this process down, which was explained a little in my avocado post 🥑

Lemon juice can be used as a natural way to clean and deodorise microwaves. Put 1 – 1.5 cups water in a microwave-safe bowl, with juice and peel of one lemon. Microwave on ‘high’ for about 5 minutes until the water begins to boil, then turn off and clean inside with a cloth ✨

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Thank you so much if you got this far. I truly appreciate you taking the time to digest some of my content 😁

Images are my own, sourced from Pixabay or linked

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Drew’s Digest #04 - Vitamin K: The Blood Clotting Compound 🥒
Drew’s Digest #03 - Everything You Ever Need To Know About Pomegranates 😍
Drew’s Digest #02 - How Genetics Will Define Our Future Diets 👨🏻‍🔬
Drew’s Digest #01 - Everything You Ever Need To Know About Avocados 🥑

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