Education: subtropical fruit
Did you know oranges are citrus fruit? Let’s learn more about SA’s important exports
WHEN people hear the words “subtropical fruit” they often mistakenly think of bananas, pawpaws and pineapples. These fruit do grow in the subtropical regions of South Africa, but only thanks to modern irrigation methods.
Earth’s subtropical regions produce types of fruit that can survive temperature variations and colder climates better than tropical fruit.
True subtropical fruit include grapes, pomegranates, dates, prickly pears, citrus fruits, olives, persimmons and figs. Let’s find out more about the subtropics and the kinds of fruit that have their origins there.
THE SUBTROPICS
The subtropics are climate zones of our planet. They’re situated between the tropics (a wide band around the Equator) and the temperate zones (closer to the poles) – between a latitude of about 25° and 40° north and south on either side of the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
Subtropical zones typically have tropical summers and non-tropical winters and can be subdivided into humid, Mediterranean and semidesert/desert climates. The wide variety of climate conditions in the subtropics occurs because these zones include deserts, Mediterranean winter-rainfall areas and humid woodlands. Nearly all of SA lies within the subtropics, as you can see on the map above.
CHARACTERISTICS OF SUBTROPICAL FRUIT
The plants which bear subtropical fruit can be evergreen or deciduous (meaning they lose their leaves in winter). These plants are usually able to withstand cold temperatures but are sensitive to frost. Subtropical fruit-bearing plants typically have long growth periods and need stable conditions during the winter months, their resting period. Subtropical plants differ in their ability to withstand frost. Lemon trees, for example, aren’t hardy and struggle to do so. In their dormant phase (winter resting period), lemon trees can withstand short periods of frost (an hour or two), but are easily damaged if the temperature drops beneath -7°C.
Subtropical plants that are best able to withstand frost are deciduous. These include fig, pomegranate and persimmon trees, all of which can fairly comfortably withstand temperatures as cold as -17°C.
Citrus fruit – including oranges, naartjies (tangerines), lemons, kumquats, limes and grapefruit – are some of SA’s most important export products.
Let’s take a closer look at two types of subtropical fruits cultivated in SA. We focus on oranges as they’re one of the world’s popular fruit after bananas. We also discuss dates, which are cultivated on a small scale in SA but have lots of potential for export growth.