Juicy lemon fruits are already ripe in the small greenhouse. The taste and medicinal qualities of the fruit were appreciated by mankind many centuries ago. According to historical data, lemon trees are native to the north-eastern part of India. Around the 2nd century AD, they began to be cultivated in Southern Italy, and from 700 in Egypt, Persia and Iran. Even then people knew about the benefits. Citrus fruits were brought to the Summer Garden in 2014 from Italy, and rare orange trees were brought from Het Loo, the summer palace of the Dutch royal family in Apeldoorn. They are the descendants of those orange trees that Peter I first saw when visiting his cousin’s palace.

According to its botanical characteristics, lemon belongs to the evergreen fruit trees of the Rutaceae family. Its pulp contains a lot of organic acids, pectin, sugars and other useful substances: phytoncides, carotene, vitamins E, C, A, group B, protein, various minerals (most of all it contains potassium, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium).

Fatty acids (triglycerides), which are important sources of energy for humans, were found in the branches, leaves and seeds of the fruit. The peel of citrus fruit contains bioflavonoids, which gives it its characteristic yellow color.