Iyokan

The iyokan (伊予柑 - Citrus × iyo), also known as anadomikan (穴門みかん) and Gokaku no Iyokan,[1] is a Japanese citrus fruit, similar in appearance to a mandarin orange, arising from a cross between the Dancy tangerine and another mandarin variety, the kaikoukan.[2] It is the second most widely produced citrus fruit in Japan after the satsuma mandarin.

Iyokan
Iyokan
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Rosids
Order:
Sapindales
Family:
Rutaceae
Genus:
Citrus
Species:
Citrus × iyo

Iyokan was discovered in Yamaguchi Prefecture during the Meiji era. Nowadays it mostly grows in Ehime Prefecture. Iyokan are named after Ehime Prefecture which was once called "Iyo-no-kuni" (literal meaning: Iyo Country).[3]

Description

The peel is thicker than that of a mikan, but it can be peeled by hand. The skin is very shiny and brightly colored and, once peeled, the flesh gives off a very strong scent.[3] The flesh is slightly sour and more bitter than an orange, but sweeter than a grapefruit.

There is a variation grown into a pentagon shape to promote good luck and to revive the popularity of the fruit,[4] also giving it another nickname, Gokaku no Iyokan, which translates into "Pentagonal Iyokan"[5] It is sometimes placed into fish feed to mask the fishy flavor.[6]

In Japan, the citrus can be seen during springtime as a seasonal KitKat flavor with messages of "good luck" to students studying for exams on each packet. The name "iyokan" is also a near-homophone for "good feeling" in Japanese, and is used as such in its marketing.[7]

See also

References
  1. "Japanese farmers create pentagon-shaped oranges". whatsonxiamen.com.
  2. Shimizu, Tokurou; Kitajima, Akira; Nonaka, Keisuke; Yoshioka, Terutaka; Ohta, Satoshi; Goto, Shingo; Toyoda, Atsushi; Fujiyama, Asao; Mochizuki, Takako; Nagasaki, Hideki; Kaminuma, Eli; Nakamura, Yasukazu (2016). "Hybrid Origins of Citrus Varieties Inferred from DNA Marker Analysis of Nuclear and Organelle Genomes". PLOS ONE. 11 (11): e0166969. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1166969S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0166969. PMC 5130255. PMID 27902727.
  3. "Ehime Citrus fruits > Varieties of Ehime Citrus fruits > Iyokan". ehimemikan.asia. Archived from the original on 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
  4. "五角形伊予柑で合格めざす！ 「五格いよかん」 日土橘4Hクラブ". ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  5. "Pentagon Shaped Iyokan Citrus Fruits". Design You Trust. Design, Culture & Society. Archived from the original on 2014-01-22. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
  6. "To tickle the taste buds, try farmed fish raised on local specialties". AJW by The Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
  7. "受験生応援". 【公式】 ネスレ通販オンラインショップ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-02-04.
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