Quince

Thequince(/ˈkwɪns/;Cydonia oblonga) is the sole member of thegenusCydoniain theMalinaesubtribe (which contains apples, pears, and other fruits) of theRosaceaefamily. It is adeciduoustree that bears hard, aromatic bright golden-yellowpomefruit, similar in appearance to a pear. Ripe quince fruits are hard, tart, and astringent. They are eaten raw or processed into jam,quince cheese, or alcoholic drinks.
The quince tree is sometimes grown as anornamental plantfor its attractive pale pink blossoms and as a miniaturebonsaiplant. In ancient Greece, the word for quince was used slightly ribaldly to signify teenage breasts.
Quinces are shrubs or small trees up to 4 to 6 metres (13 to 20 feet) tall and 3 to 4.5 metres (10 to 15 feet) wide. Young twigs are covered in a grey down.The leaves are oval, and are downy on the underside. The solitary flowers, produced in late spring after the leaves, are white or pink.
The ripe fruit is aromatic but remains hard; grittystone cellsare dispersed through the flesh.It is larger than many apples, weighing as much as 1 kilogram (2.2 lb), often pear-shaped but sometimes roughly spherical.
The seeds containnitriles, common in the seeds ofthe rose family. In the stomach, enzymes or stomach acid or both cause some of the nitriles to behydrolysedand produce toxichydrogen cyanide, which is a volatile gas. The seeds are toxic only if eaten in large quantities.
Quince isnativeto theHyrcanian forestssouth of theCaspian Sea.From that centre of origin it was spread radially by Neolithic farmers,c.5000 to 3000 BC, to secondary centres including Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Syria. In turn,landracesof quince were then distributed across Europe, Russia, China, India, and North Africa. It reached Britain in the 16th century. Settlers brought it to North America in the 17th century, and to Central and South America in the 18th century.
The fruit was known in theAkkadian languageassupurgillu; "quinces" (collectiveplural),which was borrowed intoAramaicasספרגליןsparglin; it was known inJudeaduring theMishnaic Hebrewasפרישיןprishin(a loanword fromJewish Palestinian Aramaicפרישין"the miraculous [fruit]");quince flourished in the heat of theMesopotamianplain, where apples did not. It was cultivated from an archaic period around theMediterranean. Some ancients called the fruit "golden apples".
The Greeks associated it withKydoniaonCrete, as the "Cydonianpome", andTheophrastus, in hisEnquiry into Plants, noted that quince was one of many fruiting plants that do not come true from seed.
As a sacred emblem ofAphrodite, a quince figured in a lost poem ofCallimachusthat survives in a prose epitome: seeing his beloved in the courtyard of the temple of Aphrodite, Acontius plucks a quince from the "orchard of Aphrodite", inscribes its skin and furtively rolls it at the feet of her illiterate nurse, whose curiosity aroused, hands it to the girl to read aloud, and the girl finds herself saying "I swear by Aphrodite that I will marryAcontius". A vow thus spoken in the goddess'stemenoscannot be broken.Pliny the Eldermentions "numerous varieties" of quince in hisNatural Historyand describes four.
Quinces are ripe on the tree only briefly: the Roman cookbookDe re coquinariaofApiciusspecifies in attempting to keep quinces, to select perfect unbruised fruits and keep stems and leaves intact, submerged in honey and reduced wine.
Cydoniais in the subfamilyAmygdaloideae.
The modern name originated in the 14th century as a plural ofquoyn, viaOld FrenchcooinfromLatincotoneum malum/cydonium malum, ultimately fromGreekκυδώνιον μῆλον,kydonion melon"Kydonianapple".
Quince is a hardy, drought-tolerant shrub which adapts to many soils of low to mediumpH. It tolerates both shade and sun, but sunlight is required to produce larger flowers and ensure fruit ripening. It is a hardy plant that does not require much maintenance, and tolerates years without pruning or major insect and disease problems.
Quince is cultivated on all continents in warm-temperate and temperate climates. It requires a cooler period of the year, with temperatures under 7 °C (45 °F), to flower properly. Propagation is done bycuttingsorlayering; the former method produces better plants, but they take longer to mature than by the latter. Named cultivars are propagated by cuttings or layersgraftedon quincerootstock. Propagation by seed is not used commercially. Quince forms thick bushes, which must be pruned and reduced into a single stem to grow fruit-bearing trees for commercial use. The tree isself-pollinated, but it produces better yields whencross-pollinated.
Fruits are typically left on the tree to ripen fully. In warmer climates, it may become soft to the point of being edible, but additional ripening may be required in cooler climates. They are harvested in late autumn, before first frosts.Quince is used as rootstock for certain pear cultivars.
In Europe, quinces are commonly grown in central and southern areas where the summers are sufficiently hot for the fruit to fully ripen. They are not grown in large amounts; typically one or two quince trees are grown in a mixed orchard with several apples and other fruit trees. In the 18th-century New England colonies, for example, there was always a quince at the lower corner of the vegetable garden, Ann Leighton notes in records ofPortsmouth, New HampshireandNewburyport, Massachusetts.Charlemagnedirected that quinces be planted in well-stocked orchards. Quinces in England are first recorded in about 1275, when Edward I had some planted at the Tower of London.
Quince is subject to a variety of pest insects includingaphids,scale insects,mealybugs, and moth caterpillars such asleafrollers(Tortricidae) andcodling moths.
While quince is a hardy shrub, it may develop fungal diseases in hot weather, resulting in premature leaf fall.Quince leaf blight, caused by fungusDiplocarpon mespili, presents a threat in wet summers, causing severe leaf spotting and early defoliation, affecting fruit to a lesser extent.Cedar-quince rust, caused byGymnosporangium clavipes, requires two hosts to complete its life cycle, one usually ajuniper, and the other a member of theRosaceae. Appearing as red excrescence on various parts of the plant, it may affect quinces grown near junipers.
In 2021, world production of quinces was 697,563 tonnes, withTurkeyand China accounting for 43% of the world total (table).
Quince cultivars include:
Thecultivars'Vranja' Nenadovic and 'Serbian Gold' have gained theRoyal Horticultural Society'sAward of Garden Merit.
A raw quince is 84% water, 15%carbohydrates, and contains negligible fat andprotein(table). In a100-gram (3+1⁄2-ounce) reference amount, the fruit provides 238 kilojoules (57 kilocalories) offood energyand a moderate amount ofvitamin C(18% of theDaily Value), with no othermicronutrientsin significant percentage of the Daily Value (table).
Quinces are appreciated for their intense aroma, flavour, and tartness. However, most varieties are too hard and tart to be eaten raw. They may be cooked or roasted and used for jams, marmalade, jellies, or pudding.A few varieties, such as 'Aromatnaya'and 'Kuganskaya', can be eaten raw.High inpectin, they are used to makejam,jellyand quincepudding, or they may be peeled, then roasted, baked or stewed; pectin levels diminish as the fruit ripens.Long cooking with sugar turns the flesh of the fruit red due to the presence of pigmentedanthocyanins.
The strong flavour means they can be added in small quantities to apple pies and jam. Adding a diced quince to apple sauce enhances the taste of the apple sauce. The term "marmalade", originally meaning a quince jam, derives frommarmelo, thePortugueseword for this fruit.
Quince cheeseor quince jelly originated from the Iberian peninsula and is a firm, sticky, sweet reddish hard paste made by slowly cooking down the quince fruit with sugar.It is calleddulce de membrilloin the Spanish-speaking world, where it is eaten withmanchego cheese.
Quince is used in theLevant, especially inSyria. It is added to either chicken orkibbehto create an intense and unique taste such as withkibbeh safarjaliyeh.
In theBalkans, quinceeau-de-vie(rakija) is made. Ripe fruits of sweeter varieties are washed and cleared of rot and seeds, then crushed or minced, mixed with cold or boiling sweetened water andyeast, and left for several weeks to ferment. The fermented mash isdistilledonce, obtaining a 20–30ABV, or twice, producing an approximately 60% ABV liquor. The two distillates may be mixed or diluted with distilled water to obtain the final product, containing 42–43% ABV.
In theAlsaceregion of France and theValaisregion of Switzerland,liqueur decoingmade from quince is used as adigestif.
In Carolina in 1709, John Lawson allowed that he was "not a fair judge of the different sorts of Quinces, which they call Brunswick, Portugal and Barbary", but he noted "of this fruit they make a wine or liquor which they call Quince-Drink, and which I approve of beyond any that their country affords, though a great deal ofciderandperryis there made, The Quince-Drink most commonly purges."
Ancient Greek poets such asIbycusandAristophanesused quinces (kydonia) as a mildlyribaldterm for teenage breasts.InPlutarch'sLives,Solonis said to have decreed that "bride and bridegroom shall be shut into a chamber, and eat a quince together."The heroHerculesis associated withgolden apples; these are thought by some scholars probably to have been quinces.When a baby is born in the Balkans, a quince tree is planted as a symbol of fertility, love and life.Edward Lear's 1870nonsense poemThe Owl and the Pussycatcontains the lines
Kate Young writes inThe Guardianthat the poem may be nonsense, but that slices of quince work well with ameringueandwhipped creamdessert.