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Orange
Citrus sinensis · Citrus
7 varieties40 pairings
The orange (Citrus sinensis) is the world's most cultivated fruit tree — a juicy, sweet-tart citrus wrapped in a fragrant, pebbled orange rind. Borne on a small evergreen tree, it is eaten fresh, squeezed into the planet's favourite breakfast juice, and prized as much for its aromatic oil-rich peel as for its flesh.
Picking a good onedrag
Just pickedDried out
Market freshThe everyday orange: still heavy, peels clean, juices wellBuy it
WeightSolidly dense
RindFirm, faint give, still smooth
ButtonDry brown, still attached
SmellClearly fragrant at the skin
What to look for, from just picked to dried out.
What one gives you
73%
Usable yield
131 g flesh · peel and pips out
179 g
Typical weight
one specimen
48%
Juice yield
86 g from a medium orange
Keeping ittap a band
A domestic fridge holds it about 4× longer than the counter.
Humidity
90–95%
Loose in the crisper, unwashed — dry air collapses the rind around the button.
Airflow
Ventilated
No sealed bag on a warm counter — the rind pits bronze-brown without air.
Colours to it, never ripens by it
Off the apple and banana shelf: above ~1 ppm their ethylene flattens its flavour and starts stem-end rot. Skip the paper bag — it never sweetens after picking.