Turkish Lemon 2023

Turkish lemon is one of the most exported products in fresh products including fruits and vegetables export in Turkey. Turkish lemon has many varieties that have different tastes. Turkish lemon export season starts with Mayer lemon in September, and continue with Enterdonato and Lamas lemons. We are one of the Turkish lemon exporter companies in Turkey.

Turkish Lemon
Turkish Lemon

It is a small tree species which grows through all year and it is green in winter. Also the same for the fruit of this lemon tree.

The homeland of the Turkish lemon is not known for sure. The fruits of these small lemon trees can be grown in many countries with temperate climates. 

You can see lemon trees almost in all house garden in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions. Because this is like a tradition and people like to eat fresh lemon from their own garden.

turkish lemon
Turkish Lemon

The lemon fruit is also used for fruit juice. The pulp of lemon and rind are used for cooking too. Lemon can be used for the baking purposes as well.

The juice of the lemon is about 4-5% acid. Ph value of lemon fruit is between 2 and 3. You can easily obtain the ph value of lemon in simple educational experiments.

Lemon in Turkey has many different varieties but the most popular varieties of Turkish lemon are as below: 

turkish lemon
Turkish Lemon

Mayer Lemon

The fruit color is dark yellow, the rind is soft and thin and the shape is round and small. It is the most water containing lemon.

Enterdonato Lemon

This variety produces mostly in Turkey and especially in the Eastern Mediterranean region. This lemon starts early growing. And it has the largest share in the lemon export of Turkey.

Its fruit is big and the shape is long and cylindrical. The most prominent feature is the side-tilted nipple. The rind is thin, smooth, light green and shiny.

Lamas Lemon

This variety grows in a specific region at the west of Mersin (Erdemli, Silifke) in the Mediterranean region because it is ecology selective.

Lamas is the first growing lemon after Enterdonato in Turkey, is a high-quality lemon variety. It is very convenient to store and transport.

  • Lemon, which is of great importance among the citrus varieties widely cultivated in the world, constitutes approximately 10% of the world’s citrus production.
  • Mexico, the EU, Argentina and Turkey, which are the top 4 countries in production, meet around 80% of the world’s lemon production.
  • The leading countries in terms of limon cultivation areas are India, Mexico, China and Argentina, respectively.
  • Of the 2 million tons of lemon exported in the world, 80% of the export is met by Mexico, South Africa and Turkey.
  • The USA, EU, Russia and Saudi Arabia are among the leading countries in imports.

Turkish Lemon Production

  • Approximately 5 million tons of citrus fruits are produced annually in Turkey.
  • Approximately 25% of the total citrus production is made up of lemons and limes with a production amount of 1250 thousand tons.
  • Türkiye meets 93% of its lemon production from the Mediterranean and 7% from the Aegean Region.
  • In terms of the provinces where lemon production is made, Mersin, Adana and Muğla provinces meet 90% of the production.
  • According to TUIK’s Herbal Production Statistics, lemon production in Turkey in 2022 increased by 20% compared to the previous year and reached 1 million 300 thousand tons.

Turkey Lemon Export

  • While Turkey meets approximately 20% of the world’s lemon exports, it has utilized 40% of its lemon production through exports.
  • According to TUIK foreign trade data; An average of 500 thousand tons of lemons are exported in Turkey.
  • Important countries to which Turkey exports lemons are Iraq, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and EU countries.

Below table is the lemon export values of Turkey in 2021 season (*tons)

Iraq 174,584
Russian Federation 147,712
Ukraine 43,505
Romania  36,844
Serbia  26,189
Syria  26,064
Bulgaria  22,867
UAE  18,859
Poland  17,364
Other Countries 95,060

Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters’ Association Turkish lemon exporters want to reach an export figure of 100 million dollars in mayer lemons in the 2023-2024 season.

For more products we export from Turkey such as pear you can check below

Turkish Pear and Types of Pears

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