Your Daily Facts about Oranges
Oranges belong to the genus Citrus, of the family Rutaceae. The sweet orange is classified as Citrus sinensis; the sour, or Seville, orange as Citrus aurantium; the bergamot orange as Citrus bergamia; and the mandarin orange, or tangerine, as Citrus reticulata.
About 20 per cent of the total crop of oranges is sold as whole fruit; the remainder is used in preparing orange juice, extracts, and preserves.
Orange , common name for citrus fruit of several trees. Different
varieties include the sweet orange, the sour, or Seville orange, and the
mandarin orange, or tangerine, all rich in vitamin C. The fruit is technically
a hesperidia, a kind of berry. It consists of several easily separated
carpel’s, or sections, each containing several seeds and many juice cells,
covered by a leathery exocarp, or skin, containing numerous oil glands.
Orange trees are evergreens, seldom exceeding 9 m (30 ft) in height. The
leaves are oval and glossy and the flowers are white and fragrant. Three
essential oils are obtained from oranges: oil of orange, obtained from the
rind of the fruit and used principally as a flavoring agent; oil of petigrain,
obtained from the leaves and twigs and used in perfumery; and oil of
neroli, obtained from the blossoms and used in flavorings and perfumes.
Oranges are of great commercial importance and are cultivated in warm
regions, although they are native to south-eastern Asia. Principal orange
growing areas outside Europe include the southern United States, Israel,
and Brazil. The sweet oranges are the most commonly grown. They
include the common orange, the navel orange, and the blood orange. The
common orange, which includes the Valencia orange, is cultivated and
sold as fresh fruit and is also the source of most orange juice. The navel
orange is seedless, less juicy than the common orange, and has a small
second fruit growing at one end of the fruit. The skin and fruit of blood
oranges range from pink to red, but they are similar in most other ways to
common oranges.
The bottom of a navel orange looks like a bellybutton or a navel which is where the name came from. The navel is a smaller fruit attached to the main orange. You can see this smaller fruit every time you peel and separate a navel orange. As the smaller part of the fruit grows the navel on the orange becomes bigger.
Oranges are filled with disease phytochemicals. These substances , such as flavornoids, which are found in oranges, act as antioxidants and may protect against heart disease.
Christopher Columbus was is thought to be the first person to bring orange seeds and seedlings to the new world on his second voyage in 1493
In 1873 three navel orange trees were brought from Brazil and planted in Riverside, California. The trees started producing fruit in 1878. Today, one of the three original trees is still alive and producing fruit.
Orange trees are evergreens, seldom exceeding 30 feet in height. The leaves are oval and glossy and the flowers are white and fragrant.
Three essential oils are obtained from oranges: Oil of orange, obtained from the rind of the fruit and used principally as a flavoring agent. Oil of petitgrain, obtained from the leaves and twigs and used in perfumery. Oil of neroli, obtained from the blossoms and used in flavorings and perfumes.
Oranges are rated #1 on nutrition among five popular fruits and are among the healthiest items in the produce section that provides valuable health benefits.
After chocolate and vanilla, orange is the world’s favorite flavor.