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Oranges are a citrus fruit grown in warm climates all over the world and if they are not peeled and eaten, they are usually squeezed to create orange juice. Orange juice is one of the most popular juices around the world. Brazil is the largest producer of orange juice, closely followed by the United States. Commercial orange juice production is accomplished by squeezing the fruit on huge juicers and the juice is then collected on trays underneath the oranges. Some orange juice is fresh, and put straight from the juicer into the carton, other orange juice is used to make concentrate, meaning it is freshly squeezed, frozen and then thawed for blending and ultimately, consumption.
In 2007, oranges generated $230 million in sales in the California area, making the orange the number 2 crop on the state’s agriculture’s Top 10 list. Californian farmers expect to pick around 68 million oranges during each fall harvest, and around 61 million cartons of orange juice come from the central valley area annually.
In 2008, the value of the Florida orange crop fell 19% to $1.2 billion, and according to the citrus industry observers, this was not unexpected because a drop in farm prices for oranges was predicted. Polk County has a total production of more than 31 million boxes of oranges, making up 15% of Florida’s total orange production.
There have been several different types of oranges available over the years. Persian oranges grown in southern Europe were once popular, but were quite bitter and by the 15th century they had been replaced by sweeter oranges. The navel orange came from a single mutation in 1820 in an orchard of sweet oranges. The navel mutation caused the oranges to develop a second orange at the base of the original fruit near the stem. Valencia oranges are one of the sweetest oranges that grown anywhere and are mainly used for juice extraction. Somewhat uncommon, blood oranges have streaks of red in the fruit which makes the juice a burgundy color.
Oranges are deservedly one of the most popular fruits and they also are a great natural source of vitamin C. Oranges can be used for eating, drinking, marmalade and baking and they are popular around the globe as the biggest selling juice drink available.