Navel orange

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A navel orange, showing the navel section Navel orange.jpg
A navel orange, showing the navel section

The navel orange is a variety of orange with a characteristic second fruit at the apex, which protrudes slightly like a human navel. This variety first was caused by a mutation in an orange tree, and first appeared in the early 19th century at a monastery in Bahia, Brazil. [1] The mutation caused the orange to develop a second fruit at its base, opposite the stem, embedded within the peel of the primary orange. [2] This mutation also caused it to be seedless, [1] [3] meaning the only way the plant can be propogated is by cutting and grafting. [2] [4]

Navel oranges are mainly an eating fruit because they are seedless and their thicker skin makes them easy to peel. [5] They are also less suitable for juice than other orange varieties as they are less juicy, and because their flesh contains limonin, which becomes bitter when exposed to air. [6] [7]

History

The navel orange first originated in Bahia, Brazil in the 1810s or 1820s. [1] [2] This variety was likely the Portuguese navel orange or Umbigo described by Antoine Risso and Pierre Antoine Poiteau in their 1818–1822 book Histoire naturelle des orangers ("Natural History of Orange Trees"). Because of the perceived superiority of this new cultivar, the orange was introduced to Australia in 1824 and Florida in 1835. [8]

In the 1870s, the newly formed United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) imported twelve navel orange trees from Brazil to Washington, D.C.. [9] Two of these cuttings were sent to Eliza Tibbets in 1873, who planted them in Riverside, California, where the fruit became known as "Washington". [8] [10]

The Cara cara orange is a type of navel orange grown mainly in Venezuela, South Africa and California's San Joaquin Valley. It is sweet and low in acid, [11] with distinctively pinkish red flesh. It was discovered at the Hacienda Cara Cara in Valencia, Venezuela, in 1976. [12]

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Luther Calvin Tibbets was a Maine merchant and farmer who supplied the federal government from New York City during the American Civil War, had a store in Virginia after the war, and moved to Riverside, California in 1870 as one of the early pioneers. He sold retail goods and then wholesale goods to the federal government from New York City during the American Civil War. With his wife Eliza Tibbets, he was known for growing the first two Washington Navel orange trees in Riverside, California about 1875. Their success and the qualities of the fruit resulted in a conversion of citrus orchards to this variety and rapid expansion of the California citrus industry.

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The Cara cara navel orange, or red-fleshed navel orange, is an early-to-midseason navel orange noted for its pinkish-to-reddish-orange flesh.

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Eliza Tibbets was among early American settlers and founders of Riverside, California; she was an activist in Washington, D.C., for progressive social causes, including freedmen's rights and universal suffrage before going to the West Coast. A spiritualist, she led seances in Riverside. She became known for successfully growing the first two hybrid Washington navel orange trees in California.

Riverside, California, was founded in 1870, and named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It became the county seat when Riverside County, California, was established in 1893.

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The kishu mikan is a hybrid variety of mikan, or mandarin orange, found in Southern China and also grown in Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington navel orange tree (Riverside, California)</span> Historic landmark in California

The Parent Washington Navel Orange Tree is a tree grown by Eliza Tibbets in Riverside, California, in 1873. The Riverside County tree was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.20) on June 1, 1932, at the corner of Magnolia Street and Arlington Street, Riverside. The Bahia, Brazil, Washington navel orange was brought to the United States by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1870. The Department of Agriculture imported twelve trees; from these trees, some buds were grafted on to California sweet orange trees. The Washington Navel Orange is also called California Navel Orange.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Origin of Oranges". ArcGIS StoryMaps. 2021-11-01. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  2. 1 2 3 "Navel Oranges". specialtyproduce.com. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  3. Admin, Site (2019-12-09). "Everything You Wanted to Know About Navel Oranges". Yarden. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  4. "Commodity Fact Sheet: Citrus Fruits" (PDF). California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 August 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  5. Kimball, Dan A. (June 30, 1999). Citrus processing: a complete guide (2d ed.). New York: Springer. p. 450. ISBN   978-0-8342-1258-9.
  6. Judd, Angela (2024-01-24). "3 Tips for Juicing Oranges: How To Juice Citrus". Growing In The Garden. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  7. "Are Valencia Oranges Good for Juicing? – The Groves". 2021-06-10. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  8. 1 2 "Washington". Citrus ID. Archived from the original on 14 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024., citing amongst other sources Risso, A.; Poiteau, A. (1819–1822). Histoire Naturelle des Orangers. Paris: Audot. Archived from the original on 2023-12-10. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  9. Aho, Robert (2010-01-01). "An Abridged History of The Orange". Master's Theses: 66. doi:10.31979/etd.fpj7-ymhc.
  10. Saunders, William "Experimental Gardens and Grounds", in USDA, Yearbook of Agriculture 1897, 180 ff; USDA, Yearbook of Agriculture 1900, 64.
  11. "UBC Botanical Garden, Botany Photo of the Day". Archived from the original on 2010-01-24.
  12. "Cara Cara navel orange". University of California, Riverside. Archived from the original on 2019-04-25. Retrieved 2011-01-20.