Sweet orange
Family Rutaceae
Citrus sinensis (= Citrus aurantium var. sinensis), the sweet orange (Cit. sinensis 1), is the most widely grown of all Citrus species. It is a small tree, up to 7 m tall (Cit. sinensis 2), with dark green oval-elliptic leaves with narrowly winged petioles and pentamerous fragrant flowers, 2-3 cm in diameter, borne singly or in small axillary racemes. The globose fruits are variable in size, 4-12 cm across, usually orange when ripe, but often remaining green in the tropics, containing juicy pulp. Some varieties have a striped peel (Cit. sinensis 3).
Distribution
The sweet orange is a native of China and reached Europe in the 2nd half of the 15th century. Columbus took seeds to Haiti during his second voyage in 1493. From there the orange spread to the West Indies. It reached Mexico in 1518 and Florida in 1565.
Use
The many cultivars are divided into 3 groups:
1. those with normal fruits;
2. navel oranges with a second row of carpels; and
3. blood oranges with red pulp.
Sweet oranges are eaten fresh as a dessert fruit, and large quantities are used for making juice. Oranges are also used for flavouring and marmalade. Orange oil from the peel is widely used as flavouring; neroli oil from the flowers and petitgrain oil from the leaves is used in perfumes, cosmetics and soap. Pectin is also made from the peel. After squeezing, the pulp is used as cattle food.
The largest producers of oranges are the US, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Italy and Israel. The biggest exporters are Spain, Israel, Mexico and South Africa. Biggest importers are Germany, France and the UK. World production is second to that of bananas.