The orange is cultivated in many parts of the world, South-East Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Brazil, and the United States. Orange juice is the only superfruit product traded on the New York Stock Exchange as a commodity in worldwide trading. Orange juice is also the most popular among all juices. It is served freshly squeezed or canned in parties, for breakfast, at receptions, and in homes and restaurants. Availability in stores and low cost make the high nutritional value of the orange and juice accessible to a good section of the world population.
The orange, Citrus sinensis, is a member of the citrus family (lemon, lime, grapefruit, tangerine, mandarin, kumquat). The fruit itself comes in different varieties and diversity in tastes and has multiple uses. Its variations range from navel orange, Persian, blood, and cara cara navel to tangerine and mandarin.
Orange pulp is not the only part of the fruit, which is healthy, but also the fleshy white substance, pith, surrounding the pulp and the segments. The pith is where the prebiotic (soluble) fiber and bioflavonoids are found. Citrus bioflavonoids are the most bioavailable to the body. The fruit offers heart-healthy pectin (apples have it, too) and polysaccharides. The healthful fiber of the fruit works to protect the body from cancer and blood vessels from cholesterol buildup. That is not all! There is more to this superfruit.
Orange’s merits led it to be named superfruit. It contains most essential nutrients needed to maintain good health. The fruit and its peel are rich in vitamins A (through its precursor beta-carotene), Bs, and C, important minerals, both soluble and insoluble fiber, and phytochemicals like carotenoids and polyphenols in the deep orange pigment. The fruit is rich in iron for preventing anemia and calcium for building bone. The peel and zest are employed for making gravy, marmalade, desserts to garnish and add zest. They help breakdown fat in food (duck a la orange). Eating a whole fruit after a fatty meal breaks down fat. Niacin, vitamin B3, is abundant in the fruit; it protects the heart.
Freshly squeezed orange juice has become a universal breakfast staple. It provides a good concentration of necessary nutrients (vitamins A, Bs, and C), especially if loose bits of the pulp and fiber are left inside the juice for extra nutrients, texture, and flavor. For maximum benefit, drink orange juice immediately before the nutrients start breaking down.
All oranges are not equal in phytochemicals. Though they all contain polyphenols, the blood orange with its red pulp is higher in anthocyanins and lycopene. The flavonoid, hesperidin, is found in the flesh, but moreover in the peel. Many of these phytochemicals are undergoing research for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties against disease. One of these compounds is d-limonene found in the peel is getting tested for its neutralizing effect on gastric acid to relieve heartburn and gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD). The chemical also showed activity on cancer cells in studies.
Research on oranges and their juice is underway to further verify their effects on allergies including asthma (vitamin A and C), inflammation (phytochemicals), cholesterol and vascular disorders (pectin, B3, carotenoids), and cancer (soluble fiber, phytochemicals).
Being affordable and widely available neither diminish the superfruit’s popularity nor its importance to health and disease. Fresh whole, dried, juiced, or cooked with its pith and rind, the orange is an important fruit to include in our daily diet with beverages, desserts, marmalade, in gravies, yogurt, snacks, salads and cakes. The high vitamin C content of fresh orange juice makes it a good base for fruit salads in order to stop other fruits like apples from oxidizing (turning brown) and also to maintain their fresh appearance. Whole fresh oranges and their freshly-squeezed juice with pulp are exceptionally delicious, quenching to thirst, and valuable to health. Don’t discard the peel and pith; they come with equally precious nutrients and phytochemicals.
N.B.
Individuals with medical conditions or on medication should consult their physicians when they decide to introduce anything new in their diet even if it is natural.
