IT SEEMS BUT IT IS NOT
Lemon shape, lemon smell, name lemon, but it’s actually a sour lime, another kind of citrus. O lemon lime (Citrus latifolia) has been cultivated for nearly 200 years in the US. The word “lemon” derives from the Chinese “limung”, while “tahiti” refers to the place of origin of the seeds brought to America.
PURE VITAMIN C
Also known as cherry-the-antilles or cherry-do-pará, the acerola probably received the name in Portuguese from the Arabic “azzaarora”. The fruit was known to the ancient Romans as loquat, a kind of plum. It was the Japanese immigrants who brought the acerola to Brazil, cultivating it initially in the Amazon region.
TO PIGS
From the Latin “ficus” comes the fig, fruit of the fig tree, which has been in the Portuguese language since the 13th century. Interestingly, there is a link between this fruit and the origin of the word liver. The name of the organ comes from “ficatum”, a Latin adjective used by the Romans to say “fed with figs” (when identifying animals that provide liver to eat, such as chicken, beef and pork). The organ was called “jecurficatum”, that is, “liver fattened with figs”. But it was “jecur”, not “ficatum”, which meant liver.
PASSION FRUIT
Everything that surrounds strawberry it helps in the romantic climate: the reddish color, the heart shape, the cold climate in which it is grown… The name originates from the Latin “moranicum”, which means blackberry. The Latin origin is also present in the Spanish “fresa” and the French “fraise” – which originate from the term “fraga”.
MOROCCAN TONE
In Brazil it is known as tangerine, bergamot or carnation orange. But, to search for its origin, the better version tangerine. The name is an orange reduction tangerine, that is, from Tangier, city of Morocco. The similarity with the orange is undeniable, but this fruit has an unbeatable characteristic: the ability of the peel to detach itself from the segments.
FOOT IN JACKET
A jackfruit comes from India, the same origin of the name in Portuguese, which derives from the term “chakha”. When it is ripe, the jackfruit it has advantageous measures, conducive to «sticking the foot». But this expression is an idiomatic mutation, because it came from the jackfruitan indigenous basket used by drovers in the 17th century: when they were drunk, they would put their foot in the jackfruitinstead of using the cell stirrup.
NATIONAL PRODUCT
Native to Brazil, the pitanga It received its name from the Tupi “pi’tãg”, which means “red”, in reference to the color of the fruit. With a wide geographic distribution, it originates from the region that extends from Central Brazil to northern Argentina. And, although there is no official data, Brazil is considered the world’s largest producer of the fruit.
SOURCES Books The Culture of Lemon Tahitifrom Embrapa, Unesp Dictionary of Contemporary Portugueseby Francisco S. Borba (org.), and Where Words Come From, by Deonísio da Silva; websites Cyber-doubts about the Portuguese LanguageEmbrapa, Pernambuco Agronomic Institute (IPA) and Brazilian Technical Response Service