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Oranges

Page history last edited by LaDonna Reese 15 years, 1 month ago

By LaDonna Reese

   

Introduction: 

A juicy, sweet, citrusy taste that you cherish each time you bite into it. There's only kind of fruit that's held accountable for this responsibility, and that fruit is the ..... ORANGE!!! From what people know about Oranges, they say it's a fruit, it's "orange", and it has and acidic,tangy taste to it. What they don't know is that an Orange is much more than that. 

 

Oranges came about in Southeast Asia, Eastern India, Indo-China, Southern China, and the Philippines. It is said that it was produced over 4,000 years ago, and that it was grown in China for many centuries before it each reached its peak of importance to the europeans. The European sailor, Christopher Columbus, collected livestock and fruit and vegetable seeds which also held the seeds of oranges, lemons, and citrons. He brought these fruits to the island of Hispaniola on November 22, 1493 and settled there to plant the seeds and soon enough spread. The "citrus fruits" were established in St. Augustine, eastern Florida, and Peru by 1579. Next, they were shown to southern California in 1769 by Franciscan monks in San Diego which lead to the oranges companies in the US.

 

Florida Oranges and California Navel Oranges are main orange companies and they are a major source to lots of food and fruit companies.  Spanish conquistadores in the 16th Century, probably brought the "Florida oranges", where they nestled in the Mediterranean climate and sandy soil.  Today, the Florida orange is a major part of the state’s geography, demographics, topography, economy, history, and culture. Florida oranges come out in a green color at first because they haven't done anything to it. To make it orange, they expose it to chilling degrees, which often occurs after harvesting the citrus fruit. Then, they ship them off to other companies like Hale Groves. Another well-known US company is California Navel Oranges. California Navel Oranges have a meaty flesh, they're easy to peel, and they have no seeds. All navel oranges have a navel at the end of the blossom which is an opening with a convoluted interior that looks like a navel. California Navel Oranges have less orange color and less sweetness when they come early. 

 

With oranges becoming popular in the business world, it also became diverse in the different types of varieties of oranges. The different types of oranges include: Clementines, Grapefruit, Kumquats, Mandarines, Minneolas, Oranges, Tangelos, Satsuma, Sweet Oranges, Tangerines, & Uglis; etc. Mandarin/tangerines are indigenous to northeastern India or southwestern China. It was grown around 1000BC and then spreaded out to parts of Asia including Japan where it became really popular at 1000AD, and soon reached Europe in the early 1800's. They are cultivated in trees which are fairly cold resistant within the countries of China, Japan, the Mediterranean region, the USA, and parts of South America and southern Africa. Mandarines are used for the juice that they produce, which is actually a very popular "cold drink". It is also made as jam, marmalades, preserves, and cooking and confectionery; the mandarins peel is used to flavor "liqueurs", confectionery and sweet potatoes. Sweet Oranges were cultivated in Southern China for thousands of years. It then spread to the Mediterranean region around 1450, and headed to all the warmer parts of the world. Sweet Oranges, unlike Mandarins, are propagated by joining them onto a "rootstock". Like Mandarins, Sweet Oranges are used in a large variety of drinks. But, Navel oranges don't make good juices because of their delayed bitterness. Other uses for Sweet Oranges are for things like desserts, fruit salads, sorbets, confectionery, cakes and biscuits; etc. Either way all types of oranges have a special purpose.

 

Oranges are as important as any other type of food. Hopefully you learn some very interesting facts about them and tell someone else what you learn about oranges. Because it's not just a fruit, it's a citrus branch industry all on its own.   

  

Bibliography:

FSB Associates"John McPhee 1999 Pulitzer Prize Winner"  ©2000 - 2003 13 January 2009, http://foodhistory.pbwiki.com/history.html

http://www.johnmcphee.com/oranges.htm

"Florida Oranges" 16 December 2008 13 January 2009, http://foodhistory.pbwiki.com/history.html

http://www.halegroves.com/fruits/florida-oranges.html

SBI(Site Build It!) "All-About-Florida-Oranges.com, Florida Oranges" copyright unknown 13 January 2009, http://foodhistory.pbwiki.com/history.html

http://www.all-about-florida-oranges.com

Sequoia Orange Company "Sequoia Orange Company, California's Best Citrus" ©2007 13 January 2009, http://foodhistory.pbwiki.com/history.html 

http://www.sequoiaorange.com

The Fruit Pages "Oranges & Family" ©1998-2008 13 January 2009, http://foodhistory.pbwiki.com/history.html 

http://www.thefruitpages.com/oranges.shtml

No source except that it was accessed on 13 January 2009

http://library.thinkquest.org/06aug/00013/id49.html

United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association "Food Resource, What is the history of oranges?" 22 May 2007 19 January 2009, http://foodhistory.pbwiki.com/history.html

http://food.oregonstate.edu/faq/janfaq/orange2.html

Produce Pal Produce "California Navel Oranges" ©unknown 19 January 2009, http://foodhistory.pbwiki.com/history.html

http://www.producepete.com/shows/californianaveloranges.html

Wyk, Ben-Erik van. food plants of the World: an illustrated guide. Portland: Timber Press, Inc., 2006. 2 February 2009

 

  

 

Comments (2)

John Silva said

at 1:12 pm on Jan 21, 2009

Very good intro so far. Where did the conquistadores bring oranges from? Make sure you cite your sources properly.

John Silva said

at 5:04 pm on Feb 8, 2009

20 - Bibliography missing information, formatting. Needs more detail about culturalm aspects of oranges. Overall well done though.

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