How to choose tangerines: the most delicious varieties of your favorite New Year fruit

Running around the shops in search of fruit for the New Year's table, it is easy to get confused by the abundance presented. Abkhazian, Turkish, Moroccan, Spanish, Chinese - of which there are no mandarins on the shelves. We have analyzed the opinions of experts and want to talk about the most common varieties of this fruit in our country. Of course, all the varieties of this wonderful citrus fruit sold in different regions from the Far East to Kaliningrad cannot be described, but we hope that the information we collect will help you make the right choice.

Abkhazian tangerines

For export to Abkhazia, they cultivate the Unshiu mandarin variety. These are medium-sized fruits that are bright yellow or light orange in color. They have a sweet-sour taste, are very juicy and pitted. The peel is usually rough, dense and easily peeled off. Often they are sold with leaves and part of a twig, which contributes to longer storage. It is worth noting that the Abkhaz mandarins are considered the most environmentally friendly. Also, do not forget that the season of the Abkhaz mandarins is short-lived, from late November to mid-February.

Unfortunately, this year the harvest of tangerines was badly affected by pests, and the country will put on the Russian market only 50% of last year's volume of tangerines. Therefore, according to available information, dishonest sellers are already giving Chinese and Turkish varieties traditionally less popular for Abkhazian fruit.

Moroccan tangerines

Under the brand name of Moroccan tangerines, clementines are most often sold, not tangerines. This is a hybrid of mandarin and orange-king. Moroccan fruits, in addition to the characteristic diamond-shaped sticker in black, are small and bright orange, very saturated in color. These fruits are sweet and juicy, have a thin porous peel, and seeds in them, as a rule, are absent or are contained in a small amount. Moroccan clementines are very well stored, about a month.

Turkish tangerines

Turkish producers mainly supply tangerines of the Satsuma and Okitsu varieties to the Russian market. These fruits have rather a sweet and sour or sour taste. In these tangerines, as a rule, there are a lot of seeds. The peel is smooth, easy to clean, and its color varies from bright yellow to orange. Choosing Turkish tangerines, it is worth giving preference to more brightly colored fruits, they are considered sweeter.

Spanish tangerines

These tangerines, as a rule, have a bright orange color, medium or large size. Spanish tangerines have a sweet-sour taste and are very juicy. In Spanish varieties, if there are seeds, then there are very few of them. The most commonly sold items are Spanish Gold Scorpion brand oranges.

Chinese tangerines

These are most often quite large tangerines, sold with twigs and leaves. The peel comes off quite easily. The fruits have a good sweet and sour taste, but may contain a small amount of seeds. Some experts note the increased content of agrochemicals in the products of Chinese farmers, and tangerines in this case are no exception. Therefore, these tangerines do not enjoy great love among buyers, and in some regions, in particular in Moscow markets, they are sometimes sold under the guise of Abkhazian ones.

Well, if you can’t find out the homeland of tangerines, experts advise you to adhere to the following rules when choosing fruit. Remember that the sweetest and juiciest varieties are clementines, which are small in size and have a rich orange color. Among traditional sizes, mandarins with a richer color are also the sweetest. But too large and pachyderm tangerines, usually acidic. These include, for example, the variety "santra".