They lower blood pressure and are a great source of fibre.Mandarins have synephrine that lowers bad cholesterol.Research tells us eating mandarins can lower the risk of liver cancer.The scent from the peel has been used in perfumes.Provides flavour for candy, bubble gum and ice-cream.Harvested in winter and canned easily to be available all year round.Good source of vitamin A and folic-acid as well as sources of flavonoids and antioxidants.Loose soft easy to peel skins and sweet fruit.Look at the qualities of each fruit and see how they compare. It can withstand drier conditions and some heavy handling better than the mandarin. This is because it has a tougher skin and transports better. The mandarin is sweet and soft but the tangerine on the other hand is sought after as an export fruit. The mandarin orange became popular because it is easier to peel than an ordinary orange and the other members of the citrus family. It was imported into Europe from Tangiers, Morocco in the 1800s. The tangerine gets its name from Tangiers. Their name Mandarin originates from the Chinese officials called Mandarins who wore orange clothing as a signature colour of their official importance. There are some differences attributed to the skin, the colour, the taste and the shape. That sounds complicated, but it simply means there are great similarities between the fruits because the tangerine is a variety of mandarin and a sub group of that species. Rich in vitamin C and other health benefits they really do seem to be the same, but in the final analysis a mandarin is a mandarin and the tangerine is a cultivar of the mandarin, therefore a tangerine can be a mandarin, but a mandarin cannot be a tangerine because a tangerine is a mandarin!. When you peel them and open them up they have segments of orange flavoured fruit and are delicious to eat. At face value the mandarin and the tangerine look the same, smell the same and belong to the citrus family of fruits.