Haruka (''Citrus tamurana'' x ''natsudaidai'') is a ''

Citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...

'' cultivar grown in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

Genetics and origin

Haruka was first discovered in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. Once thought to be a natural mutation of the

hyuganatsu Hyuganatsu (''Citrus tamurana'', Japanese: 日向夏) is a citrus fruit and plant grown in Japan. The name comes from Hyūga, the ancient name of Miyazaki Prefecture in Kyushu, where the citrus is said to have originated, while means summer. ...

(''Citrus tamurana''), it is now inferred that it is a hybrid between the

and

natsudaidai or is a yellowish orange citrus hybrid fruit, a group of cultivars of ''Citrus natsudaidai'', which were discovered in 1740 in the Yamaguchi prefecture of Japan. Names ''Amanatsu'' means "sweet summer" in Japanese. In Japan, the fruit is kn ...

(''Citrus natsudaidai''), with the

being the seed parent and the

being the pollen parent.

Description

The fruit is small to medium in size (around the size of an

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

) and can be round, oblate, or pyriform in shape. The rind is moderately thick (around the thickness of an

) and is yellow in color; it is smooth but porous and is fragrant. The flesh is bright yellow in color and is separated into 10-11 segments by thin membranes. It is moderately seedy. There is a circular protrusion on the non-stem end and there is sometimes a nipple at the stem end. The flavor is very sweet but rather mild. Like the

, the spongy, white pith is sweet and edible. It is most commonly eaten raw and is usually eaten with the pith intact. It ripens from late winter to spring and keeps for 1-3 weeks in a refrigerator.

Nutrition

Haruka is rich in

vitamin A Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin and an essential nutrient for humans. It is a group of organic compounds that includes retinol, retinal (also known as retinaldehyde), retinoic acid, and several provitamin A carotenoids (most notably ...

and C, and contains smaller amounts of

vitamin B1 Thiamine, also known as thiamin and vitamin B1, is a vitamin, an essential micronutrient, that cannot be made in the body. It is found in food and commercially synthesized to be a dietary supplement or medication. Phosphorylated forms of thia ...

and beta-carotene.

Distribution

It is cultivated in southern

, mainly in

Ehime is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,342,011 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Tok ...

and Hiroshima prefectures. It is sold in markets in

and is exported to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Confectionery products

A flavor of the Japanese candy is based on the haruka citrus fruit.

References