Morphology and Distribution of Lemon:

Lemon peel is the outer part of the pericarp of the ripe fruits of Citrus limonis, belonging to the family Rutaceae. Lemon peel is also known as cortex limonis.

Cultivation of Lemon:

The cultivation of lemon is carried out in India in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.

Lemon is indigenous to North India.

Large scale cultivation is done in countries like Italy, Spain and Sicily. It is also cultivated in Florida, Jamaica, Australia and California.

Characteristics and Properties of Lemon Peel:

The colour of the fresh lemon peel is bright green yellow and that of the dried one is yellow. It has strong fragnant aromatic odour and bitter taste. The outer surface is rough due to the presence of numerous minute oil glands where as the inner surface is with white spongy pericarp.

Chemical constituents of Lemon Peel:

Lemon peel contains volatile oil and other constituents like hesperidin, pectin, calcium oxalate and bitter substances. Limonene is the main constituent of the volatile oil and other chemicals like geranyl acetate and terpineol are present in minute amounts.

Lemon peel Health Benefits:

Lemon peel benefits consists of

• Carminative
• Stimulant
• Lemon peel Oil is used as perfume
• Flavouring agent
• Used for the extraction of pectin and volatile oil

The peels which are rejected by the machines are mixed with the drug after drying for adulterating the drug.

Synonyms of Lemon Peel in various languages:

• Bengali- Niboo
• Gujrati- Limboonichhal
• Hindi- Nimboo-ka-chhilaka
• Kannada- Nimbe sippe
• Malayalam- Cherunarangatholi
• Marathi- Limboo saal
• Sanskrit- Jambira
• Tamil- Elunibhaamphalam
• Telugu- Nimma-gandu

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