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Yuzu (Citrus junos, from Japanese ユズ or 柚子) is a citrus fruit and plant in the family Rutaceae. It possibly originated in central China as a hybrid of mandarin orange and the ichang papeda.
The yuzu is called yuja (from Korean 유자) in Korean cuisine. Both Japanese yuzu and Korean yuja are borrowings of the Chinese yòuzi (柚子), though this Chinese word now refers to the pomelo.
The fruit looks somewhat like a small grapefruit with an uneven skin and can be either yellow or green depending on the degree of ripeness. Very aromatic yuzu fruits typically range between 5.5 cm (2.16 in) and 7.5 cm (2.95 in) in diameter but can be as large as a regular grapefruit (up to 10 cm (3.93 in) or larger).
Yuzu forms an upright shrub or small tree, which commonly has many large thorns. Leaves are notable for a large, leaf-like petiole, resembling those of the related kaffir lime and ichang papeda, and are heavily scented.
Yuzu closely resembles sudachi (Japanese citrus from Tokushima Prefecture, a yuzu–mandarin orange cross) in many regards, though unlike the sudachi, yuzu eventually ripen to an orange colour and there are subtle differences between the flavours of the fruit.
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