Clementine: what it contains, how to use the fruit, zest and oil

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Winter fruit, easy to peel, gone in four segments. The clementine is more than a lunchbox filler: its flesh is watery and vitamin-rich, its peel carries the fragrance, and the oil pressed from that peel has a long life in aromatherapy and home cosmetics. Here is what is in it, and what to do with each part tonight.

• Read also: how to grow clementine trees

What it is credited with

• Naturopathy treats the clementine as a winter remineralising fruit, because of its trace minerals: calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium and phosphorus.
• Its high water content gives it a reputation as a refreshing, thirst-quenching fruit, eaten as a light end to a meal.
• Traditional European kitchen herbalism used infusions of dried citrus zest after rich, heavy meals, for the feeling of a sluggish, overloaded stomach.
• Folk practice values the fruit in the cold months for the everyday sense of being run down, on account of its vitamin C.
• Aromatherapy credits clementine essential oil with a calming, unwinding quality, which is why it turns up in evening baths and bedtime room blends.
• Massage traditions use the diluted oil on tired, worked legs and shoulders, mostly for the warmth and the scent.
• Home cosmetics have a long habit of using citrus zest and diluted oil in shower gels and shampoos, for oily-feeling skin and hair.
• Aromatherapists recommend the oil as a cheerful, lifting scent, popular with children’s bedrooms in diffusion because it is soft rather than sharp.

How to use it

Eat it as it is

• Peel and nibble at the end of a meal, when it is most digestible for most people.
• Segment two or three into a fruit salad with raisins and a dusting of cinnamon.
• Juice a bowlful in the morning and drink it straight away, before the aroma fades.

Infusion of dried zest

• Peel unwaxed, untreated fruit in wide strips; scrape off the white pith, which is the bitter part.
• Dry the strips on a rack in a warm, airy room until they snap rather than bend.
• Use a teaspoon of broken zest per mug of just-boiled water; cover and leave to stand for about ten minutes.
• Strain. Drink after dinner, as a digestive-style hot drink, for a few days at a time rather than continuously.
• Taste: bitter-orange, faintly floral. A little honey rounds it off.

Essential oil, external use only

• Bath: a few drops stirred into a tablespoon of milk or a neutral bath base, then into warm (not hot) water, in the evening.
• Massage oil: a few drops in a tablespoon of sweet almond or sunflower oil; work over calves, shoulders and back after exercise.
• Diffusion: a few drops in a water diffuser for twenty minutes or so in a living room, then air the room.
• Shampoo or shower gel: a few drops into a single dose in your palm, not into the whole bottle.
• Never swallow the essential oil, and never apply it neat to skin.

In the kitchen

• Grate the zest of unwaxed fruit over cakes, puddings, rice pudding and chocolate mousse.
• Make clementine jam with whole fruit and lemon juice; it sets well thanks to the peel.
• Use strips of zest in sweet-and-sour dishes: duck, slow beef stews, baked fish.

Two old household tricks

• Clementine lamp: cut the fruit across, empty the top half leaving the central stem, fill the cup with olive oil, oil the stem fibre and light it. Stay in the room.
• Room fragrance: stud a whole clementine all over with cloves and sit it near a radiator. Ideal in winter, after a cheesy or fried meal.
• Zest paste: blend the zest of a clementine to a paste and keep it in the fridge for a few days, as a scented base for home skincare. Works with any citrus.

Frequently Asked Questions

The one thing to remember: eat the fruit freely in its season, save the peel of unwaxed fruit for zest and infusions, and keep the essential oil for external, diluted use only.

Can I use the peel of any clementine I buy?

No. Only fruit sold as unwaxed and untreated is worth zesting or drying, because coatings and residues sit on the skin. Scrub it under warm water and dry it before you grate or peel. Otherwise, eat the flesh and compost the skin.

When are clementines at their best?

From late autumn to late winter, which is why they have a reputation as the cold-season citrus. Fruit bought at the start of the season keeps its perfume better. At room temperature it lasts around six days, and about ten in the fridge drawer.

Is clementine essential oil safe to swallow?

Treat it as an external product. Essential oils are extremely concentrated, and internal use is a matter for a qualified practitioner, not a home habit. For a drinkable version of the same aroma, make an infusion of dried zest instead.

Why the warning about citrus and medicines?

Some medicines react with substances found in citrus fruit and juice, which can change how they behave in the body. If you take any regular prescription, ask your pharmacist before drinking citrus juice daily. The occasional clementine is a different matter from a litre of juice a day.

What does an infusion of clementine zest taste like?

Bitter-orange and faintly floral, closer to marmalade than to lemon. Scraping the white pith off the peel before drying keeps the bitterness in check. A little honey suits it, and it is traditionally drunk after a rich dinner.

This information is provided for general interest and reflects the traditional use of plants. It is not a substitute for medical advice. If you are on medication, pregnant, or in any doubt, ask a healthcare professional.