Lemon Facts for Kids

A basket full of lemons
  • Name: Lemon, Lemons
  • Type of Food: Fruit
  • Produced From: Lemon Trees
  • Total Calories: 17 (one lemon, 58 grams)
  • Total Fat: none (one lemon, 58 grams)
  • Total Protein: 1 gram (one lemon, 58 grams)
  • Total Carbohydrates: 5 grams (one lemon, 58 grams)

27 Lemon Facts for Kids

  1. Lemons are a fruit produced by a lemon tree (Citrus limon) or one of its variants.
  2. Lemons are yellow and have a sour taste.
  3. Lemons get their sour taste from their citric acid content, which ranges between 5% and 6% of its volume.
  4. Lemons are used in foods and cleaning products.
  5. No one knows the exact origins of the lemon. It’s believed they originated from north-northwestern India.
  6. Lemons are believed to be a hybrid of a bitter orange and a citron based on a genomic study completed by the American Society for Horticultural Science.
  7. According to FAOSTAT, the worldwide production of lemons and limes in 2018 was over 21 million tons.
  8. According to FAOSTAT, the largest producer of lemons and limes in 2018 was India with over 3.4 million tons.
  9. According to FAOSTAT, around 65% of the lemons and limes produced in 2018 came from six countries and they were India, Mexico, China, Argentina, Brazil and Turkey.
  10. In the United States of America, the majority of lemons produced come from California and Arizona.
  11. There are many different varieties of lemons grown worldwide, like the Avalon lemon, citron lemon, dorshapo lemon, eureka lemon, Lisbon lemon, Meyer lemon, sweet lemon and the true lemon.
  12. One lemon (58 grams) contains 17 calories.
  13. One lemon (58 grams) contains no fat.
  14. One lemon (58 grams) contains no cholesterol.
  15. One lemon (58 grams) contains 1 milligram of sodium.
  16. One lemon (58 grams) contains 5 grams of carbohydrates.
  17. One lemon (58 grams) contains 2 grams of dietary fiber.
  18. One lemon (58 grams) contains 2 grams of sugar.
  19. One lemon (58 grams) contains 1 gram of protein.
  20. One lemon (58 grams) contains 16 milligrams of calcium.
  21. One lemon (58 grams) contains 80 milligrams of potassium.
  22. The most common use for lemons is the production of lemon juice.
  23. Lemon juice can be used to make beverages, like cocktails, lemonade and soft drinks.
  24. Some lemon trees can produce around 600 pounds of fruit each year.
  25. Lemons can be used to treat and prevent scurvy, which is a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid).
  26. Christopher Columbus brought lemon seeds to the Americas in 1493 and they were planted in Hispaniola.
  27. According to the Guinness World Records, the heaviest lemon ever recorded weighed 11 pounds and 9.7 ounces. This record was set on January 8th, 2003 by Aharon Shemoel in Israel.

Additional Resources on Lemons

About the author
Facts Editor

This is an author profile for articles that are created from a collaborative effort. It is not uncommon that articles on this site were either written, researched or fact checked by several authors and team members. So this author profile will be displayed to reflect that. Our team of editors, writers and fact checkers do extensive research before publishing articles on the site, and we do our best to provide the most accurate information possible.