Citrome is an early-game plant in Arknights: Endfield used for food, processing materials, and factory products like Canned Citrome. Once you pick your first few fruits in the wild, you can automate Citrome production indefinitely through the AIC.
Quick answer: Pick Citrome from bushes around the Hub in Valley IV, then unlock Planting and Seed-Picking Units to set up a loop that grows Citrome forever and feeds it back to your Depot.
Citrome basics
Citrome is a tier 1 Naturals item and a plant-type resource.
Item description: Citrome is a fruit that can be gathered from the wilderness or planted in the AIC. It can be shredded into food ingredients or processed into other products.
Flavor description: Citromes belong to the botanical genus Zitros, native to the central continental region of Talos-II. Cultivars grown in the Civilization Band produce large fruits with firm, fibrous flesh.
Where to find Citrome in the open world
Valley IV and the Hub
Citrome grows in Valley IV, particularly around the Hub area. You obtain it by interacting with lootable bushes that grow near paths and clearings.
Each bush in these patches can hold one of three resources: Citrome, Glowbug, or Buckflower. You need to check multiple bushes in promising areas until you see the Citrome icon appear on the loot prompt.
Reliable Hub farming spots
Two locations around the Hub stand out for frequent Citrome bushes:
- Crossroads south of the Hub Power Plant, close to the large Energy Alluvium feature.
- Southern Meadow hill, near the TP point on the rise.
Run a quick circuit between these spots, looting every eligible bush. Even though some bushes will roll Glowbugs or Buckflower, the overall density is high enough to stock up on Citrome quickly.
How to unlock Citrome farming in the AIC
Meet the story and AIC requirements
Before you can mass-produce Citrome, you need two factory systems unlocked:
- Complete the main mission Paving the Way in Act 1 to gain access to the AIC tech tree.
- Obtain a Basic Expansion Core so you can research Basic AIC II technologies.
Research the Planting tech
Open the AIC tech tree and move to the Processing branch under the Basic AIC II column. There, you can research the Planting node, which costs a Basic AIC Index and requires Protocol Dataloggers to unlock.
This node enables two crucial facilities:
- Seed-Picking Unit – consumes plants and outputs seeds.
- Planting Unit – consumes seeds and outputs fully grown plants.
How to create an infinite Citrome loop
Once you have at least one Citrome fruit and both new facilities unlocked, you can build a self-sustaining Citrome loop that feeds your Depot and reproduces itself.
1. Get your first factory Citrome
- Pick at least one Citrome from the wilderness.
- Open your bag and transfer at least one Citrome into the factory Depot.
- At a free PAC Output port, set the output item to Citrome so the factory can emit your stored fruit onto belts.
2. Place and wire the Seed-Picking Unit
- Place a Seed-Picking Unit near the chosen PAC Output.
- Rotate it so one of its input arrows faces the PAC Output.
- Build a Transport Belt from the PAC Output to that Seed-Picking input arrow.
The Seed-Picking Unit will now accept Citrome fruit from the PAC line and turn it into Citrome Seed items on its output ports.
3. Add the Planting Unit and close the loop
- Place a Planting Unit next to the Seed-Picking Unit.
- Rotate the Planting Unit so one of its inputs faces a Seed-Picking output.
- Lay a Transport Belt from the Seed-Picking output to the Planting input so seeds flow into the Planter.
The Planting Unit will now grow Citrome bushes from Citrome Seeds and output grown plants on its own output port.
4. Return grown Citrome to the Depot
- Connect a belt from a Planting Unit output back to an available Depot input (or Automation-Core input that forwards to the Depot).
This closes the circuit:
- Depot sends Citrome fruit to the PAC Output.
- PAC Output feeds the Seed-Picking Unit.
- Seed-Picking Unit produces Citrome Seeds.
- Planting Unit turns seeds into new Citrome bushes.
- Output belts send fresh Citrome back into the Depot.
Once the first items cycle through, the Depot can keep routing some of the harvested Citrome back to the Seed-Picking Unit, allowing continuous duplication without further manual input.
5. Valley IV AIC loop variant
Another simple layout uses only the AIC resourcing trio mentioned in Valley IV factory layouts:
- Place one Seed-Picking Unit and one Planting Unit with the Seed-Picking output facing the Planting input.
- Connect the Seed-Picking output to the Planting input with a belt.
- Connect a second belt from a Planting output back into a Seed-Picking input.
- Insert a single Citrome bush into the Seed-Picking Unit to start the loop.
In this configuration, the two buildings feed each other directly, and the process continuously multiplies your Citrome stock. To export part of the output, attach an extra belt from an unused Planting output to the Automation-Core or Depot.
Processing Citrome in AIC facilities
Once you have a steady supply of Citrome, you can convert it into various intermediary items.
| Facility | Citrome Cost | Product | Cycle Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Refining Unit | Citrome 130/min | Carbon 130/min | 2s |
| Shredding Unit | Citrome 130/min | Citrome Powder 260/min | 2s |
| Seed-Picking Unit | Citrome 130/min | Citrome Seed 260/min | 2s |
| Crafting (manual) | Citrome ×1 | Citrome Powder ×2 | Instant |
Use cases:
- Citrome Powder feeds food and drink recipes, including Citromix and Canned Citrome variants.
- Citrome Seed lets you expand or duplicate planting fields at Eco-Farms or additional Planting Units.
- Carbon from Refining provides a basic industrial material for many AIC product lines.
Eco-Farm and Construction Site acquisition
Beyond open-world bushes, Citrome also appears as a structured resource in certain facilities:
- The Hub: Construction Site – obtainable as part of the local resource distribution once the site is active.
- Eco-Farm – sow Citrome Seeds in farm plots to produce a regular harvest of Citrome fruit.
This lets you back up your AIC loop with traditional farming if you want extra stock for cooking and crafting without touching your industrial circuit.
How Citrome connects to Canned Citrome production
Citrome is the core ingredient for the Canned Citrome consumables, which restore health and can be traded for Tickets, Outpost Prosperity, and Valley Stock Bills.
High-level Canned Citrome chain
- Use a Shredding Unit (or manual crafting) to turn Citrome into Citrome Powder.
- Run Amethyst Ore or Ferrium Ore through a Refining Unit to get Amethyst Fiber or Ferrium, then shape those into bottle items via a Moulding Unit.
- Feed both Citrome Powder and your chosen Bottle into a Filling Unit to produce Canned Citrome of various quality ranks (C, B, A).
Because the Filling Unit consumes Citrome Powder continuously, pairing it with an infinite Citrome loop is the most efficient way to sustain large-scale Canned Citrome production for healing and trading.
