TASK 14 COMMODITIES "ORANGE"

HISTORY

The first wild ancestors of oranges and lemons probably evolved in Australia and New Guinea, where the first people probably began eating them soon after they arrived there, about 30,000 BC. As early as the Stone Age, people were eating citron fruits in China, too. Citron fruit may have reached China by floating in the ocean, or people on boats may have brought it. Citrons spread from the Pacific across Southeast Asia to India, too, and from China and India citrons soon reached Central Asia, West Asia, and East Africa. Citron appears in an Egyptian tomb painting from 1000 BC. These citrons were not juicy, and people mainly ate the rind rather than the fruit, or used citron rind to make perfumes. Indian doctors knew citrus could cure scurvy (Vitamin C deficiency), and so they tried it for a lot of other sicknesses too. Citrons reached ancient Greece and Rome not much later; Theophrastus described the fruit in 310 BC. The Roman writers Virgil and Pliny called citrons mala Medica, "Persian

But citrons are not the ancestors of the oranges and lemons you eat today. Those came from two other kinds of citrus fruit, cousins of the citron, called the pomelo and the mandarin. Either Chinese or Indian food scientists bred the pomelo and the mandarin together sometime before 314 BC to get new fruits - the bitter orange and the sweet orange. Indian cooks used bitter orange to make pickled oranges. They called the trees naranga. That's where our word "orange" comes from. These oranges spread west along the Silk Road. The bitter orange (but not the sweet orange) reached West Asia by the time of Ibn Sina (who used it in a recipe), and then in the Middle Ages, the bitter orange reached Europe, where people used it to make marmelade, and North Africa: Albertus Magnus mentioned bitter oranges around 1250 AD.

About 900 AD, shortly after they invented purple carrots, Islamic food scientists probably in Iran mixed bitter orange back with its citron cousin to make lemons (that's a Persian word). Lemons spread south to India, and they joined citrons in Africa. Saladin's doctor, Maimonides, wrote about their medical uses in the 1100s, and after that people began to eat lemons in southern Europe and North Africa. Naturally Jewish people in Egypt combined lemons with another new food, sugar, to make lemonade. By 1450 AD, farmers began to grow lemons around Genoa, in Italy.

Sweet oranges, on the other hand, probably grew only in India and China until near the end of the Middle Ages. Islamic traders brought Indian sweet oranges to East Africa, and they eventually brought sweet oranges to Genoa. People were growing oranges as well as sugar in the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean before the end of the 1400s. But when Portuguese explorers began sailing to India and China, they brought back better varieties, and oranges became very fashionable in Europe in the late 1500s. In northern Europe, where it was too cold for oranges, very rich people in the 1600s even built special glass greenhouses to grow oranges in.

Christopher Columbus brought both oranges and lemons - both new and trendy in Europe - to the Caribbean in 1493. Later Spanish settlers brought the fruit to Florida, to California, to Pueblo land, and to South America - especially Brazil - in the 1500s and 1600s AD, French settlers brought oranges to Louisiana. And when British settlers came to South Africa and Australia in the 1700s AD, they, too, brought oranges and lemons along, so the fruit made a full circle around the world and back to its original home. But in northern places, where oranges and lemons wouldn't grow, they were still special treats. Children sometimes got an orange in their Christmas stocking. Even in hot places, oranges were not a huge thing.

In the 1800s, all across Europe and Asia, the new train systems meant that for the first time people who lived in cold climates could eat southern oranges shipped north on trains. Trains brought oranges and lemons north to England, France, Germany, Poland, and Russia. After the American Civil War, people built railroads in the United States, too. Oranges, lemons, and grapefruits became much more popular in colder places, and a lot of people began getting their Vitamin C more from sweet oranges and sour lemons than from onions, chard, cauliflower, peas, and spinach as they had before. When stores started to sell orange juice, in the 1920s, the sweet juice became even more popular than eating the fruit. To pick all that fruit, Florida farm owners recruited African-Americans who had just lost their sharecropping work in Georgia, and then rented prisoners. Recently, they've used debt-bondage to force Latinos to work for starvation wages. Today, most Florida orange pickers are Latinos in debt-bondage. But more than a third of the world's oranges today come on ships from Brazil. Pickers there work under even worse conditions than in Florida; many are young children, from extremely poor families. In both Florida and Brazil, most of the profit goes to the shareholders in big companies, while the pickers stay very poor.


BENEFIT OF ORANGE :


1. Oranges contain phytochemicals that protect against cancer.
Oranges are rich in citrus limonoids, proven to help fight a number of varieties of cancer including that of the skin, lung, breast, stomach and colon.

2. Orange juice can help prevent kidney diseases.
Drinking orange juice regularly prevents kidney diseases and reduces the risk of kidney stones.

Note: drink juice in moderate amounts. The high sugar content of fruit juices can cause tooth decay and the high acid content can wear away enamel if consumed in excess.

3. Mandarin oranges fight liver cancer, according to studies.
According to two studies in Japan eating mandarin oranges reduces liver cancer. This may be due in part to vitamin A compounds known as carotenoids.

4. Oranges lower cholesterol.
Since they’re full of soluble fiber, oranges are helpful in lowering cholesterol.

5. They are rich in potassium and boost heart health.
Oranges are full of potassium, an electrolyte mineral responsible for helping the heart function well. When potassium levels get too low, you may develop an abnormal heart rhythm, known as an arrhythmia.

6. They lower the risk of diseases.
Oranges are full of vitamin C, which protects cells by neutralizing free radicals. Free radicals cause chronic diseases, like cancer and heart disease.

7. Oranges fight against viral infections.
Studies show that the abundance of polyphenols in oranges protects against viral infections.

8. They relieve constipation.
Oranges are full of dietary fiber, which stimulates digestive juices and relieves constipation.

9. They aid in good eye health and protect vision.
Oranges are rich in carotenoid compounds, which are converted to vitamin A and help prevent macular degeneration.

10. They regulate high blood pressure.
The flavonoid hesperidin found in oranges helps regulate high blood pressure, and the magnesium in oranges helps maintain blood pressure.

11. They protect skin.
Oranges are full of beta-carotene, which is a powerful antioxidant that protects the cells from damage. Beta-carotene protects the skin from free radicals and helps prevent the signs of aging.

12. Oranges alkalize the body.
Although oranges are acidic before you digest them, they contain many alkaline minerals that help to balance out the body after they are digested. In this respect, they are similar to lemons, which are one of the most alkaline foods available.

13. Oranges provide smart carbs and do not cause a blood sugar spike.
Oranges like all fruits have simple sugars in them, but the orange has a glycemic index of 40. Anything under 55 is considered low. This means as long as you don’t eat too many oranges at one time, they won’t spike your blood sugar and cause problems with insulin or weight gain.






TYPE OF ORANGE :

Naval Oranges

How to Identify: The easiest way to ID a Naval orange is by looking at the “button.” It will be located on the opposite end of the stem side which is a clear give away that you are looking at a Naval.
Best used for: Due to their flavor and the fact that they are seedless they are the ideal eating orange.
Flavor: Sweet like candy
Season: November – May



Cara Cara

How to Identify: A variety of Naval oranges so their appearance is the same, but only goes skin deep. Once you look inside the flesh has a more pinkish red color to it.
Best used for: They are good for eating straight up but even better in a nice salad because of the bitter element.
Flavor: Super sweet but has a bit of bitter tang to them similar to a cranberry.
Season: December – April


Valencia Orange

How to Identify: Close your eyes and imagine an orange…Yep that’s a Valencia. Thinner skinned and ranging more on the small-medium size these really look the part of the stereotypical orange. Also known as a “juice orange.”
Best used for: Juice. Because of the seeds along with a grainy texture you do not want to eat a Valencia straight up, which is funny because these are the most commonly found oranges thus people will buy them to eat.
Flavor: Sweet with a little tartness. So exactly what you would imagine orange juice tastes like because well, most all orange juice comes from Valencia oranges.
Season: February – October

Blood (Moro) Orange

How to Identify: Smaller thick skinned oranges that you will notice might have a little red hue to the outside. I like to describe the skin as being “burnt orange.” But you will really see why they are called blood oranges once you cut one open to review the vivid red interior of deliciousness.
Best used for: pairing with foods rather than eating straight up. They lend very well to a meal because they have a unique taste.
Flavor: more tart than sweet. Some even consider blood oranges to be the most tart of oranges.
Season: January – April


Clementine

How to Identify: Cuties! (which actually are not typical Clementines.) Clementine’s look like very small oranges but have a glossy smooth texture to their skin.
Best used for: On-The-Go eating straight out of hand, easy to peel, seedless and delicious.
Flavor: Sweet and lack any trace amounts of acidity that you normally find in oranges.
Season: November – January



Tangerine

How to Identify: Very close to clementine’s and often mistaken for them. Tangerines are a little larger and the major visual difference is the skin texture. Tangerines have a more pocked look. Think of their skin looking more like an old man’s, big pores, kind of withered looking and soft. No offence to any old men out there, I am becoming one myself.
Best used for: On-The-Go eating out of hand. They do have seeds and thicker pith than clementines. They also tend to be juicier than clementines.
Flavor: similar to a Clementine but more tart and “juicy” tasting.
Season: October – April


http://quatr.us/food/oranges.htm

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/13-health-benefits-of-oranges.html

http://grapplergourmet.com/guide-types-of-oranges/#.WbSS7cbkXIU

 

Common orange – There are many varieties of common orange and it is widely grown. The most common varieties of common oranges are the Valencia, Hart’s Tardiff Valencia, and the Hamlin, but there are dozens of other types. Blood or pigmented orange – The blood orange consists of two types: the light blood orange and the deep blood orange. Blood oranges are a natural mutation of C. sinensis. High amounts of anthocyanin give the entire fruit its deep red hue. In the blood orange category, varieties of orange fruit include: Maltese, Moro, Sanguinelli, Scarlet Navel and Tarocco. Navel orange – The navel orange is of great commercial import and we know it well as the most common orange sold at the grocers. Of the navels, the most common types are the Cara cara, Bahia, Dream navel, Late Navel and Washington or California Navel. Acid-less orange – Acid-less oranges have very little acid, hence little flavor. Acid-less oranges are early season fruit and are also called “sweet” oranges. They contain very little acid, which protects against spoilage, thus rendering them unfit for juicing. They are not generally cultivated in large quantities.

Read more at Gardening Know How: Varieties Of Orange Fruit: Learn About Different Types Of Oranges https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/oranges/different-types-of-oranges.htm

Sweet orange varieties Sweet orange is divided into four classes, each with distinct characteristics: Common orange – There are many varieties of common orange and it is widely grown. The most common varieties of common oranges are the Valencia, Hart’s Tardiff Valencia, and the Hamlin, but there are dozens of other types. Blood or pigmented orange – The blood orange consists of two types: the light blood orange and the deep blood orange. Blood oranges are a natural mutation of C. sinensis. High amounts of anthocyanin give the entire fruit its deep red hue. In the blood orange category, varieties of orange fruit include: Maltese, Moro, Sanguinelli, Scarlet Navel and Tarocco. Navel orange – The navel orange is of great commercial import and we know it well as the most common orange sold at the grocers. Of the navels, the most common types are the Cara cara, Bahia, Dream navel, Late Navel and Washington or California Navel. Acid-less orange – Acid-less oranges have very little acid, hence little flavor. Acid-less oranges are early season fruit and are also called “sweet” oranges. They contain very little acid, which protects against spoilage, thus rendering them unfit for juicing. They are not generally cultivated in large quantities.

Read more at Gardening Know How: Varieties Of Orange Fruit: Learn About Different Types Of Oranges https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/oranges/different-types-of-oranges.htm