Discover new tricks on this favorite super fruit
Best to buy
Oranges are available year-round, but are best in the cold months.
Cut & clean
Wash thoroughly under cold water if you plan to use the zest, otherwise simply peel the skin,
break into segments, and eat.
It's in the zest
Use a fine grater to zest an orange. Use in punches, cakes, sauces, and salads.
Power food
Oranges are an excellent source of vitamin C
and a good source of thiamine and folic acid.
Also indexed as: Blood Oranges, Mandarin Oranges, Navel
Oranges, Orange, Satsuma Oranges, Seville Oranges, Temple Oranges, Valencia Oranges
Preparation, uses, and tips
An orange is one of the best fruits for eating raw and juicing. It has a great range of
uses, from an ingredient in salads and frozen desserts to marmalade, pastry making, and
cooking, including using the peel to extract essential oil. Orange flower water is distilled
from the tree blossoms, and is used in Indian cooking. The fruit and its grated zest can be
added to punch and cakes as a garnish, and segments are also served with seafood. For a unique presentation, try using the deep
red flesh of blood oranges, with its hint of raspberry taste. Bitter oranges are used to make
marmalade, jam, jelly, syrup, and sauce. Their bitter zest lends the hint of orange to the
alcoholic liqueurs Curaçao, Cointreau, and Grand Marnier.
Buying and storing tips
Oranges are available year-round, though they are traditionally a winter fruit. Look for
heavy oranges with uniform skin. Ripe oranges sometimes retain green streaks or slight
russeting due to climatic conditions, but these do not significantly affect taste or quality.
Avoid fruit with extremely soft ends or mold spots. Oranges keep well in the refrigerator for
two weeks, and the zest from oranges can be frozen.
Varieties
Oranges fall into three categories: bitter, loose-skinned (like mandarin oranges), and
sweet; each type has many individual varieties.
Sweet oranges are used chiefly for juicing or eating. They include the Valencia, Navel, and
Temple oranges. The Navel orange, which is grown in California, is considered an eating
orange, since its sweet pulp tends to turn a little bitter when the juice is exposed to air.
Valencia oranges are enjoyed for both eating and juicing, although commercially the Valencia
is considered the best juicing orange. An orange hybrid bearing an orange and red rind with
red flesh is called blood orange. The Temple orange, named after the man who created it, is a
flavorful orange-tangerine hybrid. Bitter oranges, also known as Seville oranges, are named
after the Spanish city of the same name. They are seldom seen in markets and are used chiefly
for marmalade or for their peel (in liqueurs). Blood oranges are seen much more
frequently.
Nutrition Highlights
Orange, 1 large
Calories: 86
Protein: 1.7g
Carbohydrate: 21.6g
Total Fat: 0.22g
Fiber: 4.4g
*Excellent source of: Vitamin C (97.8mg)
*Good source of: Thiamine (0.16mg), and Folate (55mcg)
*Foods that are an “excellent source” of a particular
nutrient provide 20% or more of the Recommended Daily Value. Foods that are a “good
source” of a particular nutrient provide between 10 and 20% of the Recommended Daily
Value.