What is Lemon Rind or Lemon Peel?

The concept of a lemon rind has puzzled many at-home cooks and professional chefs for generations, as it
isn’t always clear what part of the fruit is being referred to. There does appear to be some consensus that the
lemon rind includes the colorful outer layer of the fruit, as well as a thin layer of white pith beneath it. Lemon
rind is called for in many different recipes, which basically call for strips of the outer layer of the fruit, including
some of the firm white pith and the yellow-colored outer layer.

Difference Between Lemon Peel, Zest & Rind

Despite the confusion and overlap of these terms in many recipes, there is a clear separation between the
lemon peel, lemon zest, and lemon rind.

Lemon Zest – This is the very outer edge of the lemon peel, comprising only the yellow-colored layer of skin.
Lemon zest is commonly called for as a garnish for cocktails or a flavoring agent, but since it cooks up so
quickly, it isn’t as commonly required in hot recipes.

Lemon Rind – The rind of the lemon includes the lemon zest, as well as a thin layer of the white pith beneath
it. A lemon rind is thicker than the lemon zest. This white pith included in the lemon rind is bitter and has an
unpleasant flavor, whereas the zest has the aroma and taste of the inner fruit. [1]

Lemon Peel – This term encompasses the zest, rind, and the rest of the outer shell of the fruit; basically, the peel is
everything except for the fruit inside that is traditionally eaten.

Lemon Rind Nutrition

The nutritional profile of the lemon rind includes high levels of potassium and vitamin C, as well as smaller amounts
of calcium and a healthy dose of dietary fiber. Granted, to enjoy the health benefits afforded by these nutrients, you would
need to eat a rather large portion of lemon rind – far more than is typically called for in a recipe. Most importantly, the
lemon rind is a much more concentrated source of limonene and other flavonoids, including more than 20 identified anti-
cancer compounds. [2]

Lemon Rind Health Benefits

The health benefits of this rind include its ability to boost skin health, aid in weight loss efforts, improve bone density, and
prevent cancer, among others.

Skin Care

Limonene is a powerful antioxidant, so along with vitamin C, this rind can give your skin a healthy boost, thanks to its
effects on free radicals and oxidative stress, which causes wrinkles, blemishes, and signs of aging. [3]
Reduces Cholesterol

The high fiber content of lemon rind helps to optimize digestion, improve nutrient uptake, prevent overeating,
lower cholesterol, and aid in weight loss efforts. [4]

Improves Bone Density

There is a good amount of trace minerals found in the rind of lemons, which can help boost bone density and
prevent osteoporosis as you age.

Prevents Cancer

Studies have found that limonene and the other flavonoids in lemon rind are directly linked to preventing the formation
and spread of cancerous tumors, particularly, cancer of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, and stomach. [5]

Lemon Rind Uses

There are countless uses for this citrus rind, including as a natural cleaner for your bathroom and tub, a topical application
that can help lighten age spots, a hair rinse, a dry-skin treatment, a natural deodorizer for your home or laundry room, an
insect repellent for ants, a nail whitener, a sugar scrub for your skin, and even a means to light fires. [6] The active
ingredients, powerful aroma, and antibacterial nature make many of these uses possible. Furthermore, lemon rind can be
dried or frozen, ground into a powder, or simply sliced up as a flavor additive in soups, stews, curries or salads.

LEMON
The lemon, Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck, is a species of small evergreen tree in the flowering
plant family Rutaceae, native to South Asia, primarily North eastern India.
The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world, primarily
for its juice, which has both culinary and cleaning uses.[2] The pulp and rind (zest) are also used in cooking and
baking. The juice of the lemon is about 5% to 6% citric acid, with a pH of around 2.2, giving it a sour taste. The
distinctive sour taste of lemon juice makes it a key ingredient in drinks and foods such as lemonade and lemon
meringue pie
The origin of the lemon is unknown, though lemons are thought to have first grown in Assam (a region
in northeast India), northern Burmaor China.[2] A genomic study of the lemon indicated it was a hybrid
between bitter orange (sour orange) and citron.[3][4]
Lemons entered Europe near southern Italy no later than the second century AD, during the time of Ancient
Rome.[2] However, they were not widely cultivated. They were later introduced to Persia and then
to Iraq and Egypt around 700 AD.[2] The lemon was first recorded in literature in a 10th-century Arabic treatise
on farming, and was also used as an ornamental plant in early Islamic gardens.[2] It was distributed widely
throughout the Arab world and the Mediterranean region between 1000 and 1150.[2]
The first substantial cultivation of lemons in Europe began in Genoa in the middle of the 15th century. The
lemon was later introduced to the Americas in 1493 when Christopher Columbus brought lemon seeds
to Hispaniola on his voyages. Spanish conquest throughout the New World helped spread lemon seeds. It was
mainly used as an ornamental plant and for medicine.[2] In the 19th century, lemons were increasingly planted
in Florida and California.[2]
In 1747, James Lind's experiments on seamen suffering from scurvy involved adding lemon juice to their diets,
though vitamin C was not yet known.[2][5]
The origin of the word "lemon" may be Middle Eastern.[2] The word draws from the Old French limon, then
Italian limone, from the Arabic laymūn or līmūn, and from the Persianlīmūn, a generic term for citrus fruit, which
is a cognate of Sanskrit (nimbū, “lime”).[6]

CULINARY USES
Lemon juice, rind, and peel are used in a wide variety of foods and drinks. The whole lemon is used to
make marmalade, lemon curdand lemon liqueur. Lemon slices and lemon rind are used as a garnish for food
and drinks. Lemon zest, the grated outer rind of the fruit, is used to add flavor to baked goods, puddings, rice,
and other dishes.
Juice
Lemon juice is used to make lemonade, soft drinks, and cocktails. It is used in marinades for fish, where its
acid neutralizes amines in fish by converting them into nonvolatile ammonium salts, and meat, where the acid
partially hydrolyzes tough collagen fibers, tenderizing the meat, but the low pH denatures the proteins, causing
them to dry out when cooked. Lemon juice is frequently used in the United Kingdom to add to pancakes,
especially on Shrove Tuesday.
Lemon juice is also used as a short-term preservative on certain foods that tend to oxidize and turn brown after
being sliced (enzymatic browning), such as apples, bananas, and avocados, where its acid denatures the
enzymes.
Peel
In Morocco, lemons are preserved in jars or barrels of salt. The salt penetrates the peel and rind, softening
them, and curing them so that they last almost indefinitely. The preserved lemon is used in a wide variety of
dishes. Preserved lemons can also be found in Sicilian, Italian, Greek, and French dishes.
Leaves
The leaves of the lemon tree are used to make a tea and for preparing cooked meats and seafoods.

TEA
Tea (Hokkien: tê) is an aromatic beverage commonly prepared by pouring hot or boiling water
over cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub (bush) native to Asia. After water, it is the most
widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some, like Darjeeling and Chinese
greens, have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have vastly different profiles that
include sweet, nutty, floral or grassy notes.
Tea originated in Southwest China, where it was used as a medicinal drink. It was popularized as a
recreational drink during the Chinese Tang dynasty, and tea drinking spread to other East Asian
countries. Portuguese priests and merchants introduced it to Europe during the 16th century. During the 17th
century, drinking tea became fashionable among Britons, who started large-scale production and
commercialization of the plant in India to bypass the Chinese monopoly. Combined, China and India supplied
62% of the world's tea in 2016.
The term herbal tea refers to drinks not made from Camellia sinensis: infusions of fruit, leaves, or other parts of
the plant, such as steeps of rosehip, chamomile, or rooibos. These are sometimes called tisanes or herbal
infusions to prevent confusion with tea 
HISTORY OF TEA
Tea plants are native to East Asia, and probably originated in the borderlands of north Burma and
southwestern China.[27]
There appears to have been at least three separate domestication events of tea and possibly four.

 Chinese (small leaf) tea

 Chinese Western Yunnan Assam (large leaf) tea
 Indian Assam (large leaf) tea
 Chinese Southern Yunnan Assam (large leaf) tea
Chinese (small leaf) type tea (C. sinensis var. sinensis) may have originated in southern China possibly with
hybridization of unknown wild tea relatives. However, since there are no known wild populations of this tea, the
precise location of its origin is speculative.[28][29]
Given their genetic differences forming distinct clades, Chinese Assam type tea (C. sinensis var. assamica)
may have two different parentages – one being found in southern Yunnan (Xishuangbanna, Pu'er City) and the
other in western Yunnan (Lincang, Baoshan). Many types of Southern Yunnan assam tea have been
hybridized with the closely related species Camellia taliensis. Unlike Southern Yunnan Assam tea, Western
Yunnan Assam tea shares many genetic similarities with Indian Assam type tea (also C.
sinensis var. assamica). Thus, Western Yunnan Assam tea and Indian Assam tea both may have originated
from the same parent plant in the area where southwestern China, Indo-Burma, and Tibet meet. However, as
the Indian Assam tea shares no haplotypes with Western Yunnan Assam tea, Indian Assam tea is likely to
have originated from an independent domestication. Some Indian Assam tea appears to have hybridized with
the species Camellia pubicosta.[28][29]
Assuming a generation of 12 years, Chinese small leaf tea is estimated to have diverged from Assam tea
around 22,000 years ago while Chinese Assam tea and Indian Assam tea diverged 2,800 years ago. The
divergence of Chinese small leaf tea and Assam tea would correspond to the last glacial maximum.[28][29]
Tea drinking may have begun in the Yunnan region during the Shang Dynasty in China, when it was used for
medicinal purposes. It is also believed that in Sichuan, "people began to boil tea leaves for consumption into a
concentrated liquid without the addition of other leaves or herbs, thereby using tea as a bitter yet stimulating
drink, rather than as a medicinal concoction."[6]
Chinese legends attribute the invention of tea to the mythical Shennong (in central and northern China) in 2737
BC although evidence suggests that tea drinking may have been introduced from the southwest of China
(Sichuan/Yunnan area).[26] The earliest written records of tea come from China. The word tú 荼 appears in
the Shijing and other ancient texts to signify a kind of "bitter vegetable" (苦菜), and it is possible that it referred
to a number of different plants such as sowthistle, chicory, or smartweed,[30] as well as tea.[14] In the Chronicles
of Huayang, it was recorded that the Ba people in Sichuan presented tu to the Zhou king. The state of Ba and
its neighbour Shu were later conquered by the Qin, and according to the 17th century scholar Gu Yanwu who
wrote in Ri Zhi Lu (日知錄): "It was after the Qin had taken Shu that they learned how to drink tea."[2] Another
possible early reference to tea is found in a letter written by the Qin Dynasty general Liu Kun who requested
that some "real tea" to be sent to him.[31]
The earliest known physical evidence[32] of tea was discovered in 2016 in the mausoleum of Emperor Jing of
Han in Xi'an, indicating that tea from the genus Camellia was drunk by Han Dynasty emperors as early as the
2nd century BC.[33] The Han dynasty work "The Contract for a Youth", written by Wang Bao in 59 BC,
[34]
 contains the first known reference to boiling tea. Among the tasks listed to be undertaken by the youth, the
contract states that "he shall boil tea and fill the utensils" and "he shall buy tea at Wuyang".[2] The first record of
tea cultivation is also dated to this period (the reign of Emperor Xuan of Han), during which tea was cultivated
on Meng Mountain (蒙山) near Chengdu.[35] Another early credible record of tea drinking dates to the third
century AD, in a medical text by Hua Tuo, who stated, "to drink bitter t'u constantly makes one think
better."[36] However, before the mid-8th century Tang dynasty, tea-drinking was primarily a southern Chinese
practice.[37] It became widely popular during the Tang Dynasty, when it was spread to Korea, Japan, and
Vietnam.
Through the centuries, a variety of techniques for processing tea, and a number of different forms of tea, were
developed. During the Tang dynasty, tea was steamed, then pounded and shaped into cake form,[38] while in
the Song dynasty, loose-leaf tea was developed and became popular. During the Yuan and Ming dynasties,
unoxidized tea leaves were first pan-fried, then rolled and dried, a process that stops the oxidation process that
turns the leaves dark, thereby allowing tea to remain green. In the 15th century, oolongtea, in which the leaves
were allowed to partially oxidize before pan-frying, was developed.[37] Western tastes, however, favoured the
fully oxidized black tea, and the leaves were allowed to oxidize further. Yellow tea was an accidental discovery
in the production of green tea during the Ming dynasty, when apparently sloppy practices allowed the leaves to
turn yellow, but yielded a different flavour as a result.[39]
Tea was first introduced to Portuguese priests and merchants in China during the 16th century, at which time it
was termed chá.[7] The earliest European reference to tea, written as Chiai, came from Delle navigationi e
viaggi written by a Venetian, Giambattista Ramusio, in 1545.[40] The first recorded shipment of tea by a
European nation was in 1607 when the Dutch East India Company moved a cargo of tea from Macao to Java,
then two years later, the Dutch bought the first assignment of tea which was from Hirado in Japan to be
shipped to Europe.[41] Tea became a fashionable drink in The Hague in the Netherlands, and the Dutch
introduced the drink to Germany, France and across the Atlantic to New Amsterdam (New York).[42]
The first record of tea in English came from a letter written by Richard Wickham, who ran an East India
Company office in Japan, writing to a merchant in Macao requesting "the best sort of chaw" in 1615. Peter
Mundy, a traveller and merchant who came across tea in Fujian in 1637, wrote, "chaa — only water with a kind
of herb boyled in it ".[43][44] Tea was sold in a coffee house in London in 1657, Samuel Pepystasted tea in 1660,
and Catherine of Braganza took the tea-drinking habit to the British court when she married Charles II in 1662.
Tea, however, was not widely consumed in Britain until the 18th century, and remained expensive until the
latter part of that period. British drinkers preferred to add sugar and milk to black tea, and black tea
overtook green tea in popularity in the 1720s.[45] Tea smuggling during the 18th century led to the general
public being able to afford and consume tea. The British government removed the tax on tea, thereby
eliminating the smuggling trade by 1785.[46] In Britain and Ireland, tea was initially consumed as a luxury item
on special occasions, such as religious festivals, wakes, and domestic work gatherings. The price of tea in
Europe fell steadily during the 19th century, especially after Indian tea began to arrive in large quantities; by
the late 19th century tea had become an everyday beverage for all levels of society.[47] The popularity of tea
also informed a number of historical events – the Tea Act of 1773 provoked the Boston Tea Party that
escalated into the American Revolution, and the need to address the issue of British trade deficit caused by the
demand for Chinese tea led to a trade in opium that resulted in the Opium Wars.[48]
Chinese small leaf type tea was introduced into India in 1836 by the British in an attempt to break the Chinese
monopoly on tea.[49] In 1841, Archibald Campbell brought seeds of Chinese tea from the Kumaun region and
experimented with planting tea in Darjeeling. The Alubari tea garden was opened in 1856 and Darjeeling
tea began to be produced.[50] In 1848, Robert Fortune was sent by the East India Company on a mission to
China to bring the tea plant back to Great Britain. He began his journey in high secrecy as his mission occurred
in the lull between the Anglo-Chinese First Opium War (1839–1842) and Second Opium War (1856–1860).
[51]
 The Chinese tea plants he brought back were introduced to the Himalayas, though most did not survive.
The British had discovered that a different variety of tea was endemic to Assam and the northeast region of
India and that it was used by the local Singpho people, and these were then grown instead of the Chinese tea
plant and then were subsequently hybridized with Chinese small leaf type tea as well as likely closely related
wild tea species. Using the Chinese planting and cultivation techniques, the British launched a tea industry by
offering land in Assam to any European who agreed to cultivate it for export.[49] Tea was originally consumed
only by anglicized Indians; however, it became widely popular in India in the 1950s because of a successful
advertising campaign by the India Tea Board.[49]