What is orange?

The orange tree is a small to medium sized evergreen tree with smooth bark and branches. The oval to round shaped orange fruits (or simply oranges) have a leathery skin that contains orange oil. The skin of orange is green or yellow. The white part of the orange is called albedo and is rich in pectin. Inside the orange are segments which contain fragile vesicles containing the orange juice. The orange seeds are manly found in the part adjacent to the core. The small flavours have a typical orange blossom flavours which can be smelt from far away. The leaves of the orange tree are oval and alternate. They are glossy and dark green.

Parts used

Most important part is the orange fruit, which is mostly squeezed to obtain orange juice. The orange peel and flowers are also used.

Phytochemicals

These are typical phytochemicals found in orange: oranges are well known for their high vitamin c level but oranges contain other important phytochemical including carotenoids, isohesperidin, terpeniol, naringin, limonin, flavonoids, hesperidin, limonene.

Benefits of orange

The orange oil is used to treat chronic bronchitis. Tea made from dried orange flowers stimulates the nervous system. Orange peel is traditionally used to treat sleeping problems. The phytochemicals limonene and flavonoids appear to have anti-carcinogenic properties. They can block the carcinogenesis by acting as a blocking agent. Studies have shown that limonin and limonene can induce the enzyme activity of glutathione S-transferase, which is an important detoxifying enzyme. Feeding of orange oils, rich in limonene, seemed to inhibit tumors of forestomach, lung and mammary tumors.

Other facts

Sweet orange originate from southern and south-eastern Asia. Sweet oranges are now mainly grown in Brazil, China, Cuba, South Africa, United States and the Mediterranean region. Popular varieties of the sweet orange include Valencia, Navel and blood orange. The orange peel of the sweet orange and the bitter orange is used in many countries to make orange marmalade. Neroli oil is destilled from the orange flowers and used as scent in perfumes, such as eau-de-cologne.

Other names

Citrus vulgaris, sweet orange, China orange