Orange(s)

 The place of origin of the orange fruit is Southeast Asia. The tree that bears this small, round, orange colored fruit runs to about 10 meters in height and is actually a flower bearing evergreen tree. Oranges are considered to be a variety of berries owing to the existence of seeds (also called pips), flesh (also called pith), and that fact that these all are derived from a single ovary.

 

There are four main varieties of the orange fruit:

 

1. Blood Orange: The blood orange fruit was discovered in the 15^th century and since then has been cultivated worldwide. The pulp of this kind of orange is red and the juice is burgundy in color.
2. Navel Orange: This particular kind of orange is called the navel orange because of its appearance which looks like the human navel. The manner in which this type of orange fruit is mutated causes another orange to grow at the base of the original orange and gives the impression of Siamese twins.
3. Persian Orange: The Persian orange was introduced in Italy in the 11^th century and was originally bitter and not very popular. It was genetically mutated later to make it sweet and saleable. It can grow in different sizes and colors according to the climate it is grown in.
4. Valencia Orange: This is a late season fruit which is basically used for juice extraction and is usually popular around the time the navel oranges are out of season.

 

The orange fruit is grown in groves throughout the world and is equally popular the world over. The top most orange producer of the world is Brazil, with the United States of America and Mexico close behind. Oranges have very high nutritional value as they are high in vitamins and dietary fiber. The most basic commodity made produced out of oranges is juice. Other products made of oranges are fragrances, hand cleansing agents, oil, and food flavoring.