Processing and Production of orange in California - Research Paper Example

A characteristic of orange production in the US is that more than half of the fruit juice sold is orange juice. Orange products in the US come in various forms including orange juice concentrates, smoothies, fresh squeezed juice, mixed fruit juices and marmalades. There is also orange oil that is a non-food product that is used in surface conditioning for wood furniture and mixtures with other citrus oils for grease removal and hand cleansing. All of the orange fruit is utilized because waste from cut fruit and juice processing is used as an animal feed.

The context of this paper is going to dwell on processing and production of oranges in California by focusing on safe methods of storing, preserving and consuming oranges. This will be guided by the fact that orange production in California is primarily for fresh market. Fresh oranges and freshly squeezed orange juice and other citrus are richly endowed with vitamin C and Folate. According to Snart, they also provide significant amounts antioxidants, flavonoids, beta-carotenes and antioxidants (Snart 2).

Orange varieties include Temple, Pineapple, Hamlin, Valencia and Navel with the Navel and Valencia varieties being grown commonly grown for commercial purposes in California. Navel oranges are generally seedless, but they might occasionally contain some seeds. The Valencia variety contains what is regarded as too many seeds according to professionals concerned with orange quality standards (Lobell, Kimberly and Christopher 189). The amount of seeds in an orange is determined by growth conditions, nearness to other citrus trees and availability of bees.

Orange trees for commercial purposes are grafted onto seedling rootstocks that have been chosen for their disease tolerance in various soil conditions. Various rootstocks are also selected for their vigor, fruit quality and productivity. Common with all citrus trees, oranges go through a juvenile phase of about two to three