Ruili in China has a typical South Asian tropical monsoon climate, with two seasons of drought and rain throughout the year. It has long sunshine hours and abundant resources in the hot zone. In addition, the fertile soil in the dam area makes irrigation convenient, and lemons mature quickly with high yields. 

On February 1, 2016, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine approved the implementation of geographical indication product protection for "Ruili Lemon".

Quality characteristics

Ruili lemon mainly includes three varieties: Yunning No.1, Yulike, and Tasidi, all of which are suitable for fresh consumption and processing.

Yunning No.1 lemon tree has a compact shape with a round headed crown that blooms multiple times a year. The fruit is oval in shape with papillae, and the skin color is yellow. The fruit surface is smooth, and Yunning No.1 lemon has rich oil cells on the surface, tender and juicy flesh, good aroma, and good quality.

The Yulike series is an excellent lemon variety introduced from the United States and selected through years of planting experiments in Ruili City, Dehong. It blooms and bears fruit all year round in Ruili City, with a yield of over 2000 kilograms per acre in the field. The fruit is elliptical in shape, green or orange yellow in color, with obvious milk bumps at both ends, bright fruit color, protruding oil cells, high oil yield, juicy and crispy flesh, with an average single fruit weight of 100-125 grams and an average fruit diameter of 6-7 centimeters. It has excellent quality and rich aroma.

Tasidi is an excellent variety introduced from the United States and selected through years of planting experiments in Ruili City, Dehong State. It blooms and bears fruits all year round in Ruili City, with a large amount of flowers and high yield. The average yield per mu is over 3 tons. The fruit shape is round, the fruit surface is green and smooth, the skin is thin and seedless, the flesh is green, soft and juicy, and has a special aroma. The average weight of a single fruit is 80-90 grams, and the average fruit diameter is 5-5.5 centimeters. It is an ideal fresh food seasoning variety, mainly used for freshly squeezed cold drinks, breakfast, and dish seasoning. It belongs to the Lemon series.

nutritive value

The fresh fruit and processing quality of Ruili lemon are excellent. According to the test and analysis of the fruit tree laboratory of Yunnan Agricultural University, the content of citral in the essential oil of Ruili lemon flavor is as high as 41%, far higher than that in the United States and Italy.

Ruili City, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, belongs to a typical South Asian tropical monsoon climate, with an annual average temperature of 18.3 ℃ -20 ℃, an average annual sunshine of 2218 hours -2453 hours, and rainfall of 1400 mm -1800 mm. There is no severe cold in winter, no scorching heat in summer, small annual temperature difference, large daily temperature difference, short frost period, sufficient heat, abundant rainfall, and fertile soil. Dehong plants lemons, which bloom and bear fruit in the same year, bloom three times a year, bear fruit in all seasons, and enter high yield in the third year, with an average yield of 1.5-2 tons per mu, and the highest reaching over 4 tons. Compared to other major lemon producing areas in China, it is put into production two to three years earlier and has a natural advantage in developing lemon off-season fruits. It is one of the most suitable regions in the world for planting lemons.

historical origin

In 1998, Ruili began developing the lemon industry. In order to support the development of the lemon industry, Ruili City has successively introduced multiple policies, established variety gardens and demonstration bases, and the lemon planting is developing towards standardization, normalization, and scientific direction.

In 2007, Ruili City formulated the "Overall Plan for the Five Year Development of Key Agricultural Industries in Ruili City (2007-2012)", aiming to achieve 50000 acres of lemon planting base by 2012