They are also very juicy, with soft segments, which is part of their attraction. The rind is very easy to remove, the fruit is quite delicate, and the flavour is mild with a delicious tang and background sweetness. It originated from Japan in its modern form of 3 or 4 varieties, such as Okitsu and Mihowase. The Satsuma is distinct type and easily recognisable mandarin, which is particularly popular in UK. Satsumas are a distinct type of mandarin which are soft and very easy to peel with juicy sweet, slightly tangy, but mildly flavoured segments. The Mediterranean and King Mandarins are of limited commercial importance, but the other three contain all the varieties that we see in our retail stores.

Mandarins are broadly categorised as: Satsumas, Mediterranean Mandarins, King Mandarins, Common Mandarins, and Tangors / Tangelos.

The broad similarities between these types are: a small to medium size fruit, rind that peels away quite easily, sweetness, a distinctive flavour, and popularity! Mandarin is the name given to all types of easy-peeler citrus fruit.Īlthough the name is sometimes used on retail packaging, mandarin is actually the collective name for all easy-peeler type citrus fruit, which are thought to have originated in north-east India or south-west China. To help understand these fruit a little better, below are some one-liners on the main groups, followed by a little more detail: There is quite a list, which has largely developed to help retailers differentiate a complex group of similar fruit for consumers. It is confusing to browse the citrus aisle in a retail store for easy-peelers because of the plethora of names and descriptions used: Satsumas, Clementines, Tangerines, Mandarins, etc. What are Clementines, Mandarins, Satsumas and Tangerines?

Difference mandarin and clementine