Did citrus fruit originate in China? Genetic scientists may have solved the bitter debate

Name: Indian mango farmer produces 300 varieties from one tree
Uploaded: 2023-10-06T07:19:45.000Z
Duration: 1 min 56 s
Description: Indian mango farmer produces 300 varieties from one tree

Researchers say fruits like oranges and lemons emerged in south-central China millions of years ago

Findings challenge a previous study suggesting the birthplace of citrus fruits was in the Himalayas

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The origin and birthplace of citrus have long been a matter of debate, but a group of Chinese researchers say the roots of the family tree belong in China. Photo: Xinhua

Victoria Bela

Published: 3:19pm, 6 Oct 2023

The great ancestors of some of the world’s favourite citrus fruit might have first grown in what is now China, according to a new genetic family tree that upends previous research suggesting citrus originated in the Himalayan region.

A Chinese-led team of scientists have proposed that the first citrus fruits emerged in south-central China, according to their genomic analysis.

The findings challenge a previous study about the origins of sour fruits, which had proposed that the genus originated and evolved in the southeast foothills of the Himalayas, according to a paper published in the journal Nature in 2018.

“I think we can tell the story of the origin of citrus more objectively,” said Xu Qiang, a professor at Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, who is a corresponding author of the new study, and head of the lab that conducted much of the work.

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Indian mango farmer produces 300 varieties from one tree

Xu and his research team disputed the 2018 findings, according to a report by the Chinese-language news site Science Times on Wednesday.