Orange (fruit)

The orange, also called sweet orange, is the fruit of a tree in the family Rutaceae. It is a hybrid called Citrus × sinensis, created from the pomelo and the mandarin orange. Oranges are special because scientists have studied their full genome.

Oranges began growing in places like Southern China, Northeast India, and Myanmar. The earliest stories about sweet oranges appeared in Chinese literature in 314 BC. Today, people grow orange trees in warm areas all around the world to enjoy the sweet fruit. In 2022, people grew 76 million tonnes of oranges everywhere, with Brazil making 22% of all oranges, followed by India and China.

Oranges have been important in art and culture for a very long time. They show up in old paintings from China and later in Europe. Famous artists like Vincent van Gogh, John Sloan, and Henri Matisse all painted oranges in their artwork. Oranges can be eaten fresh, squeezed for juice, or their peel can be used for its lovely smell.

Description

The orange tree is a small, leafy tree that stays green all year and blooms with flowers. It usually grows to be about 9 to 10 metres tall, but some very old trees can get up to 15 metres. The leaves are oval-shaped, about 4 to 10 centimetres long, and have slightly wavy edges.

Oranges come in many sizes and shapes, from round to oval. Inside the orange, there is a white, bitter layer just under the skin. The orange itself is made up of several sections, each filled with juicy pockets and sometimes a few seeds. When the orange is not ready to eat, it looks green. When it is ripe, the skin can be bright orange, yellow-orange, or even stay green in some places. Unlike some other fruits, oranges don’t continue to ripen after they are picked from the tree. There are different kinds of oranges, such as common oranges, special coloured oranges, navel oranges, and oranges with less acid. An orange is a special type of fruit called a hesperidium, which is a changed kind of berry covered by a thick skin made from the ovary wall.

History

Hybrid origins

Oranges are special because they are made from mixing two other fruits: the pomelo and the mandarin orange. This mixing happened a long time ago in places like Southern China, Northeast India, and Myanmar. Even though oranges look simple, they are actually very interesting because they come from these two different fruits coming together.

Oranges have led to many other fruits too, like grapefruits. People have also created new kinds of oranges by mixing them with other fruits, which helps us enjoy different tastes and types of oranges.

Arab Agricultural Revolution

Further information: Arab Agricultural Revolution

In Europe, people learned about oranges from groups called the Moors. They brought oranges to places in Spain and started growing them a lot in the 10th century. Oranges became popular and were grown in special places by wealthy people. By the mid-1600s, oranges were known all over Europe.

Spread across Europe

After oranges arrived in Europe, they became a favorite fruit. Rich people grew them in special rooms called orangeries. Even famous kings like Louis XIV of France loved oranges and had many orange trees.

To the Americas

Spanish travelers brought oranges to the Americas. Explorers like Christopher Columbus may have planted them on an island called Hispaniola. Later, oranges were brought to places like South America, Mexico, and Florida. Missionaries also helped grow oranges in places like Arizona and California.

California

In California, missionaries first planted oranges a long time ago. Later, people like Jean-Louis Vignes and William Wolfskill started growing oranges for everyone to enjoy. When gold was found in California, people needed food with vitamin C, so oranges became very important. New kinds of oranges, like the navel orange, were introduced and helped make California famous for oranges. Trains and better ways to protect oranges from cold weather made it easier to share them with people all over the country.

Etymology

Main article: Orange (word)

The word "orange" comes from the languages of South India. It traveled through many languages, including Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, and Old French, before reaching English. Over time, the word changed a little in each language. In some places, the first part of the word was dropped by mistake. The color orange was named after the fruit, with the first use of the word for the color happening in English in 1512.

Composition

Oranges are mostly water, with a small amount of carbohydrates, protein, and almost no fat. They are a great source of vitamin C, giving you more than half of what you need each day.

Oranges also contain many helpful plant chemicals, such as carotenoids and flavonoids, which give them their bright color and sweet smell. The taste of an orange depends on the balance of sugars and acids, and it can change depending on when it was picked and how it was stored. Oranges are acidic, with a pH between 2.9 and 4.0.

Cultivars

Common

Common oranges, also called "white", "round", or "blond" oranges, make up about two-thirds of all orange production. Most of this crop is used to make orange juice.

Valencia

Main article: Valencia orange

The Valencia orange is a late-season fruit, meaning it is popular when other oranges, like navel oranges, are not in season. An English nurseryman named Thomas Rivers brought this variety from the Azores and listed it in 1865 as Excelsior. Around 1870, he sent trees to S. B. Parsons, a nurseryman from Long Island, who then sold them to E. H. Hart in Federal Point, Florida.

Navel

Main article: Navel orange

Navel oranges have a small extra piece at the top that looks like a human navel. They are mainly eaten fresh because their thicker skin makes them easy to peel. They are less juicy and a bit bitter, so they are not usually used for juice. The original parent variety was likely the Portuguese navel orange or Umbigo. This type of orange spread quickly to other countries. Because it does not have seeds, it must be grown from cuttings and grafting.

The Cara Cara is a special type of navel orange grown mainly in Venezuela, South Africa, and California's San Joaquin Valley. It is sweet and has low acid, with pinkish-red flesh. It was found at the Hacienda Cara Cara in Valencia, Venezuela, in 1976.

Blood

Main article: Blood orange

Blood oranges have a deep red color inside and are widely grown around the Mediterranean. There are several different types of blood oranges. The red color comes out best when there are cool nights. The red color is due to a natural pigment called anthocyanin, specifically chrysanthemin.

Acidless

Acidless oranges are an early-season fruit with very little acid. In the United States, they are also called "sweet" oranges. In other countries, they have different names: douce in France, sucrena in Spain, dolce or maltese in Italy, meski in North Africa and the Near East, succari in Egypt, and lima in Brazil. Because they have little acid, they do not protect the juice from spoiling, so they are mainly eaten fresh. They can be profitable locally but spoil quickly, making them unsuitable for exporting to big cities in Europe, Asia, or the United States.

Cultivation

Oranges grow best in warm places where temperatures stay between 15.5 and 29 °C (59.9 and 84.2 °F). They need lots of sunshine and water, usually in tropical and subtropical areas. Since oranges can be damaged by frost, farmers have special ways to protect their trees, like spraying them with water to create a protective layer of ice.

Orange trees grown for commercial use are created by grafting, which means taking a piece from a mature tree and placing it on a young tree’s stem. This helps ensure the oranges stay the same quality and are resistant to diseases. This method also makes trees start producing fruit sooner than if they were grown from seeds.

When it’s time to pick oranges, machines are often used to shake the trees. Oranges are ready to be picked when they turn pale orange. Sometimes, even ripe oranges look green on the outside, so they are treated with a gas to help them change color. At home, oranges can stay fresh for about a month when stored loosely.

Main articles: Fruit tree propagation and Citrus rootstock

Pests and diseases

Pests

The cottony cushion scale was a major pest that attacked orange trees in the United States. It was brought from Australia to California in 1868 and quickly damaged many orange orchards. Scientists then brought an Australian ladybird beetle to help control the pest, and it worked well. Another pest is the orange dog caterpillar, which can eat the leaves of young orange trees.

Diseases

Citrus greening disease has been a big problem for orange trees since 2010. It makes the leaves look strange and the fruit taste bad. This disease was first found in Florida in 1998 and has since spread. It is spread by tiny insects called psyllids. There are ways to manage this disease, but it is still a challenge for orange growers.

Greasy spot is a fungal disease that causes spots on the leaves and can make the tree weaker. It comes from spores in fallen leaves.

Further information: List of citrus diseases

Production

Main article: Citrus production

In 2022, the world produced 76 million tonnes of oranges. Brazil led with 22% of all oranges grown, followed by India, China, and Mexico. In the United States, orange groves are mostly found in Florida, California, and Texas. Florida’s oranges are mainly used for juice, while California’s are sold as fresh fruit. The Indian River area in Florida is known for its high-quality juice, even though it produces smaller amounts of oranges.

Culinary use

Dessert fruit and juice

Further information: Orange juice

Oranges, which can taste sweet or sour, are often peeled and eaten fresh as a treat. Orange juice is made by squeezing the fruit using a special tool called a juicer or squeezer, and collecting the juice in a container. This can be done at home or in large factories. Orange juice is sold and traded in markets around the world. Frozen orange juice concentrate is made from freshly squeezed and filtered juice.

Marmalade

Main article: Marmalade

In many places, oranges are turned into jam. In Britain, bitter Seville oranges are used to make marmalade. Almost all of Spain’s oranges for this purpose are sent to Britain. The whole fruit is cut up and boiled with sugar; the white part of the peel, called pith, adds pectin, which helps the marmalade to thicken. The first recipe was created by an Englishwoman, Mary Kettilby, in 1714. Later, in the 1790s, Janet Keiller from Dundee added pieces of peel, giving the marmalade a special bitter flavor. The peel contains bitter substances like limonene and naringin.

Extracts

Further information: Limonene

The colorful outer part of the orange peel can be scraped off, called zest, and used to add flavor to desserts and cocktails.

Sweet orange oil is made as a by-product when making orange juice by pressing the peel. This oil is used to flavor foods and drinks, and it is also used in perfumes and for aromatherapy because of its nice smell. The oil is mostly made of a substance called D‑limonene, which is used in household products like wood conditioners and detergents because it smells nice and is better for the environment than some other chemicals. However, it can irritate skin and harm water animals.

Fruit and juice

[Zesting](/wiki/Zest_\(ingredient\)) an orange

Homemade [marmalade](/wiki/Marmalade), England

In human culture

Oranges have been important in human culture for a very long time. The sweet orange was first mentioned in ancient Chinese writing from 314 BC. In China, artists and writers have celebrated oranges for their beauty and shape, as seen in poems and paintings.

In Europe, oranges appeared in art and were symbols of wealth and desire. Famous paintings show oranges in still lifes and special settings, like orange groves. Oranges were also grown in special buildings called orangeries, like the one at Versailles, to show off their beauty and value. Artists such as Vincent van Gogh also painted oranges in their works.