Seven new citrus varieties, alongside veteran varieties, led the display of citrus fruits at the annual Citrus Conference held by the Fruit Division of the Agricultural Extension Service of Israel (Shaham) at the Ministry of Agriculture. Showcased at the conference were 4 mandarin varieties (similar to clementines), 2 varieties similar to grapefruits and oroblancos (sweeties), and one variety of seedless lemons.

Most Israelis are familiar with local variety developed in Israel - the Orri mandarin, which is considered the finest in the world. At the conference this week, four new mandarin varieties were presented. Joining the famous Orri variety were Tamar, Einav, Orit and Sigal, - extra sweet mandarins of excellent quality that are easy to peel, have a deep red color and are seedless.

But the conference highlight, a highly awaited novelty for salad lovers, is the Ayelet lemon variety, a seedless variety derived from the traditional and familiar Villa Franca lemon, which has a special aroma and fragrance. With this newly-developed variety, juice can be squeezed from a lemon directly onto any dish or salad, without straining, ensuring that the next salad bite will be both aromatic and seedless.

In addition, the conference also showcased Einat, an oroblanco-like variety (hybrid resulting from breeding a white pomelo and red grapefruit) which, in addition to the vitamin C it contains boasts the red pigmentation that denotes its excellent antioxidant properties, and Aliza - a sweet white grapefruit-like variety (hybrid resulting from breeding a mandarin and red pomelo). Both these varieties are seedless and very sweet. All the new varieties presented were developed by the Agricultural Research Organization, led by Dr. Nir Carmi, Dr. Ron Porat and Yossi Yaniv.

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