Marmalade made of Citrus taiwanica, a critically endangered citrus species endemic to Taiwan, has won five gold and eight silver medals from the World’s Original Marmalade Awards and Festival.
According to the Hsinchu branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (FNCA), Citrus taiwanica, also known as Nansho Daidai sour orange, is a Taiwanese citrus species listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The plant almost went extinct in the wild, their habitats damaged by land development, with only seed trees preserved, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency
The branch has been working to restore the native Citrus taiwanica while exploring new applications for the fruit.
It worked with Keya Jam (柯亞果醬) and the Miaoli County Indigenous Saisiyat People’s Forestry and Labor Cooperative on developing Citrus taiwanica-based products.
They entered in the World’s Original Marmalade Awards and Festival held in the UK under the name of “FNCA x Keya Jam x Saisiyat” this year, earning five gold and eight silver awards in the artisan marmalade category.
Keya Jam founder Ke Ya (柯亞) yesterday said the awards won this year were for six different Citrus taiwanica-based jams that were created in the collaboration.
The jam flavored with Litsea cubeba — commonly known as mountain pepper — is the most distinctive of the jams, she added.
Mountain pepper is an indigenous plant of Taiwan and is not grown in Europe, making it a local flavor representative of Taiwan and tasty to Westerners, she said.
The Citrus taiwanica trees in the Saisiyat Cooperative’s orchard produced a steady yield this year, she said, adding that the fruit’s pectin content and thick rind make it ideal for jam-making and for pairing with a variety of flavors.
Saisiyat village elder Ken Chih-you (根誌優) said Citrus taiwanica, known as “Kata’iyok” in the Saisiyat language, is a flavor that has long been part of the village’s history.
“Seeing the Citrus taiwanica trees grow, bear fruits and shine on the global stage this year means more to us than just winning the awards,” he said.
The branch in 2021 launched the “Citrus Taiwanica Go Home” initiative and continued to overcome challenges such as pests, diseases and slow growth with improved techniques, it said.
It collaborated with the Saisiyat Cooperative on restoring and replanting Citrus taiwanica in their native habitats, the branch said, adding they have planted about 3,000 Citrus taiwanica plants.
Citrus taiwanica fruits used for jams for international competitions used to be sourced from the seed trees, which have limited production, it said.
The Saisiyat Cooperative’s stable fruit production this year showed that Citrus taiwanica has the potential for industrial applications as its cultivation management has improved, it said.
Saying Citrus taiwanica represents an achievement in Taiwan’s efforts to restore native plants. The branch said it would continue to develop sustainable cultivation practices and a safe application evaluation mechanism for Citrus taiwanica jointly with National Taiwan University horticulture associate professor Lin Shu-yen (林書妍).
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
RSS