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Laraha

Subspecies of citrus fruit

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Laraha (Citrus × aurantium subsp. currassuviencis),^[1]orCuraçao orange (Citrus aurantium var. currassuviencis),^[2] is the name of a citrus tree that grows on the island of Curaçao, and also the fruit of this tree. The name is cognate with Portuguese laranja for the orange. A descendant of the orange, the fruit of the laraha is too bitter and too fibrous to be considered edible.

History and use[edit]

Seville orange trees transplanted on Curaçao from Spain in 1527 did not thrive in the arid climate and soil of this Southern Caribbean island.^[2] As the trees were then abandoned, the fruit evolved from a bright orange color into the green laraha. The dried peels of the laraha, however, were discovered to be pleasantly aromatic,^[2] and experimentation with the extracts of these peels led to the creation of Curaçao liqueur.

See also[edit]

• Bitter orange

References[edit]

• Benjamin, Alan Fredric (2002). Jews of the Dutch Caribbean. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-27439-7.
• Gastmann, Albert (1978). Historical Dictionary of the French and Netherlands Antilles. Scarecrow Press. p. 110. ISBN 0-8108-1153-7.

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