Lemon uses in history

Lemon have been known, used and traded since approximately 600 BC when Arab traders brought them to Asia.

The Athenians received lemon from the Persians, who ere neighbors of the Medes and from Attica its spread all over Greece.

Lemons were only known to the Romans at a very late period and at first were used only in cupboards and drawers to protect wool from moths.

There was also a belief that boiling a whole lemon in Attic honey until the lemon completely dissolved made syrup that both Greeks and Romans believed to be a protections against every poison, if taken medicinally in the morning.

The first widespread use of lemons was in possets, hot spicy drinks which developed from the fifteenth century onwards. From the sixteenth century they usually contained lemon or orange juice mixed with sugar, cream and spices.

The lemon has been prized for its numerous medical uses, many of which are still used today. One such example is the use of lemons by the British Navy in the 1800s to fight the effects of scurvy.
Lemon uses in history