sign in sign up
<<
Home , Blood orange, Cara cara navel, Melogold, Orange (fruit), Oroblanco, Peel (fruit)

The Year of the Begins january & february 2007 vol. 39, no. 1 – $5.00

Year of the Mango Kicks Off

A Little of Mango

Here’s the fi rst mango article of 2007

Mysterious Blood Oranges ❖ Report: Festival 2006 ABOUT PIGMENTED ❖ Report: Symposium in Turkey , CHEMISTRY & ❖ Report: Fifth Wolfskill Pomegranate Tasting Obscure, Delicious, Mysterious rare groWers The Bloods: Mutations, Chemistry and Flavor

1 Bream Tarocco tree, one of the best strains barry

Story and numbered images by David Karp© graham

n the early 1990s a woman named Smith in Moorpark, California, noticed a baffl ing I phenomenon in her garden. One limb of her Valencia tree, which had always borne normal oranges, displayed shocking scarlet fruit. Was someone trying to poison her, she asked Nick Sakovich, a local farm advisor? Ruby Valencia oranges To her relief, he identifi ed the red orang- additionally contain several , es as a rare but spontaneous —a chiefl y cyanidin-3-glucoside. This magenta barry “limb sport,” in horticultural lingo. In fact, compound is common in many , in- her Valencia had recapitulated the birth of cluding skins, red currants, cherries the in , many centuries and . Scientists recently discov- graham earlier. ered that all sweet oranges have the basic Ms. Smith’s fear of poisoning might genes to produce anthocyanins, but that the Four Ruby Valencia oranges, standard Valencia at right seem overwrought, but blood oranges often genes are turned on only in blood varieties. evoke strong, sometimes contradictory reac- Specifi cally, two sets of genes are necessary tions. Europeans have long prized their ap- to make anthocyanins; blonde oranges do roistacher pealing blush, dramatic burgundy fl esh, and have the structural genes, but lack the regu- intense fl avor; Americans are split between latory genes controlling their expression. chet enthusiastic foodies and the squeamish who Anthocyanins redden the fl owers and recoil at the fruit’s sanguinary aura. In the fruits of many plants, serving to attract in- blood oranges are redolent sects and animals for and seed of romance and European sophistication, dispersal. They are also present in , but also vaguely sinister—for instance, my where they protect internal cells by block- Pink Valencia at left, standard Valencia juice at right friend Andy Griffi n wrote an essay about ing harmful ultraviolet light, while selec- oranges in the Godfather movies beginning, tively admitting light vital for photosynthe- barry “I want to the Godfather’s oranges sis. In citrus, anthocyanins color the fl owers open and see if they bleed.” Moreover, and young leaves of , and the very that give blood Ichang papedas, but are otherwise relatively graham oranges their ruddy appearance, rich fl avor rare. Curiously, no anthocyanins occur in and health-giving properties, also, paradoxi- orange trees, except for blood orange fruits. Ruby Valencia oranges cally, render them chemically unstable, thus Blood orange coloration is part sci- hindering their marketing. ence, part mystery. In general, cold winter Ruby Valencia juice, standard Valencia juice at left barry Blood oranges are varieties of common nights alternating with mild days favor sweet orange, Citrus sinsensis, colored by development in rinds and reddish-purple anthocyanins, water-soluble fl esh; shaded or partially exposed fruit graham pigments. “Blonde” oranges such as navels tend to develop the darkest peels. Sicil- and Valencias derive their orange color ians claim that anthocyanins protect their from pigments; blood oranges (turn to page 18) 1 january & february 2007 fruit gardener 6 Dawn and Valentine -like hybrids

7 Moro blood oranges

2 Valentine grapefruit-like

3 Dawn grapefruit-like hybrid

9 Spanish Sanguinelli blood orange

8 Smith Red Valencia oranges Pink

Pink Valencia (inset) 4 Sanguinelli, Tarocco and Moro blood oranges

Mandareds (red mandarins) roistacher roistacher barry

magazine

not to scale chet chet graham

hortscience Very Red

5 Tarocco blood orange

Grapefruits: Texas Very Red (right) and Rio Red graca

de

john graca

de

john

Title photo Vaniglia Sanguigno, or “Vanilla Blood,” acidless orange pigmented by (as opposed to the anthocyanins which tint blood oranges), from Churchill Orchards, Ojai, Calif. 1 Bream Tarocco is a highly colored strain of Tarocco that originated in Lindsay, Calif. Citrus Variety Collection, UC Riverside. 2 Valentine hybrid: Siamese Sweet pummelo x ( mandarin x Ruby blood orange). Citrus Variety Collection. 3 Dawn hybrid, bred at UC Riverside. 4 From left—Spanish Sanguinelli, Tarocco and Moro, the three blood orange varieties grown in California. 5 Tarocco, the sweetest, most tender-fleshed blood orange variety, rarely grown in California. 6 Dawn (left) and Valentine hybrids, bred at UC Riverside. 7 Moro, the most deeply pigmented blood orange, and the most commonly grown blood variety in California. 8 Smith Red Valencia is a blood sport from a Valencia tree in Moorpark, Calif. Citrus Variety Collection. 9 Spanish Sanguinelli late-season blood orange, pigmented chiefly around its fruit gardener membranes. From Art Lange, Reedley, Calif. Note: For more info on unnumberedjanuary photos, see & sidebar february on page 2007 18. 17 BLOOD ORANGES (from page 16) Cornell University who has tasted pure an- blood orange flavor chemistry have found thocyanin powders, “If you moisten your several distinguishing compounds, such as blood oranges against the Etna district’s finger, dip it into the preparation, and lick hydroxycinnamic acids—which are struc- wide climatic fluctuations, but it is also your finger, you don’t get any sensation, turally related to a precursor of anthocya- possible that the pigmentation is just a except for a slight bitterness.” Indeed, the nins—along with valencene, and various superfluous response to this stress, per- many small fruits colored by anthocya- fatty acids and , which are unre- petuated by humans because it’s pretty. In nins, including strawberries, blueberries, lated to anthocyanins. Anthocyanins may areas with warm, humid climates, such as and , vary greatly in flavor, and also interact with aromatic compounds in , most blood oranges develop only blood oranges certainly don’t smell like ways not yet discovered. It appears that a few flecks of red. raspberries, because they lack the distinc- no single flavor unites all blood orange To the vexation of growers, red color tive “ .” varieties; each has its own profile, just as a varies unpredictably from season to season, That doesn’t mean that the red pig- Valencia different from a navel. In from tree to tree, and even within clusters ments in blood oranges have no link to fact, blood orange varieties differ among of fruit. Not all dark-fleshed fruit have red flavor. and red pigments are pro- themselves as much as they do from their rinds; a rosy rind is no guarantee of dark duced by separate pathways, although the blonde relatives. flesh, but when a light -gray tinges two often occur side by side, and in blood The best-tasting blood oranges have the pores of the rind, then the inside is al- oranges, as for many fruits, anthocyanin flesh that is either medium burgundy in ways maroon. synthesis requires the transfer of , color, or lightly streaked with red, according a sugar molecule. The upshot is that red- to variety. Late in the season, in March and The Anthocyanin-Flavor Puzzle ness often correlates with , but in April, the main blood orange variety grown Many writers, myself included, have light-blood varieties a lack of blush doesn’t in the United States, Moro, often has deep stated that anthocyanins impart to blood necessarily mean the fruit is immature. violet pulp—almost black—because the oranges a distinctive “-like” or “rasp- Moreover, anthocyanin synthesis requires fruits are packed with anthocyanins, and berry-like” flavor. In fact, the connection many enzyme steps, controlled by many also because the pigments change from red is not so direct, since pure anthocyanins genes, and during that process blood or- to violet as acidity drops with advancing are almost tasteless. According to Geza anges make chemically related substances maturity. Though dramatic, these superdark Hrazdina, a professor of biochemistry at that influence flavor. Recent analyses of fruits usually have lost so much acidity that

Bloods Beside Oranges

Aside from oranges, half a dozen new mandarin pigmented with anthocyanin, but introduced Alkanta (Oroval x This fruit is a favorite at the UCR Citrus Variety citrus varieties pigmented with anthocyanin much to my surprise, at a recent gathering a Tarocco) and Mandared (Nules clementine x Collection, where there are about half a dozen or lycopene have come to light in recent highly respected, authoritative source (who Tarocco). According to Nigel Grech, a plant trees in trials, and hopefully before too long it years—from intentional hybridization, muta- did not wish to be identified) showed me a pathologist, and researcher for Visalia-based will be available as a home garden variety. “We tions and chance discoveries—although very convincing photograph of a blood Future Fruits, Mandared, which ripens in don’t have a firm plan, but we will probably few people know about them. growing in Japan. The regular Ponkan is a February in the , is the pick release it in a couple years, as an unpatented It has always seemed curious that typical mandarin, common in Asia but rare in of the lot, because “it has more developed variety,” said Dr. Mikeal Roose, the current while anthocyanin is characteristic of the the U.S. The blood mutation is the “product pigmentation, and it’s a more consistent UCR citrus breeder. and young leaves of citrons and of tissue culture trickery,” a rare example of bearer.” Grech and his colleagues have Another noteworthy blood hybrid, lemons, it never shows up in the mature a graft chimera, said my source, who added: retained an exclusive license for Mandared sometimes nicknamed ‘Dawn,’ is Siamese fruits. Almost never, perhaps: Ornamental “I’d give a body part for that.” However, the in the United States, and have assigned the Sweet pummelo x Ruby blood orange. It’s Citrus Fruits, a book published in in fruit is less sweet than a normal Ponkan, and rights to propagate the variety to Willits & smaller and less highly pigmented than Val- 2000, has an intriguing photograph of the tree is weak; this prodigy is “in the hands Newcomb Nursery, which may have trees entine, but equally delicious, and seedless. what is said to be a - hybrid of a private group,” which for the present is available as soon as spring 2008. They may be A more conventional offering, but with an anthocyanin-pigmented rind. Citrus “sitting on it” and very secretive. marketed as Red Nules, added Mr. Grech. still very exciting, is a new high-lycopene limonimedica Lush. ‘Pigmentata’, a “Limone Of course it is possible to introduce Pure pummelos and grapefruits pig- grapefruit that showed up as a bud sport on cedrato rosso” or “Red lemon,” reads the pigmentation into mandarin-like fruits by mented with anthocyanin are not recorded, but a Rio Red tree at the Texas A&M University- description, although a photo of a cut fruit hybridization, and this is the approach taken Drs. and James Cameron, citrus Kingsville Citrus Center in Weslaco, Texas. has suspiciously orange-colored flesh, and by breeders at the Istituto Sperimentale per breeders at the University of California at River- Both the skin and the flesh are darker than the text says that the flowers are “strongly L’Agrumicoltura in Acireale, , who have side, came up with hybrid blood grapefruit-like those on any known grapefruit, including perfumed, like orange flowers.” This oddity now released selections from their second citrus as part of the work that resulted in the Star Ruby, according to Eliezer Louzada “is a recent natural hybrid not coming from generation of crosses. All are triploid, and and several decades and John De Graca, scientists at the station. historical collections but from private Tuscan thus seedless, an added bonus. On my visit ago. The most promising pigmented selection, “From the mutated limb we have propagated collections,” said a representative of the 10 years ago I tasted Tacle and Clara, two nicknamed ‘Valentine’ because it matures in new trees, which haven’t borne fruit yet, but Oscar Tintori company (www.oscartintori.it), crosses of Monreal clementine and Tarocco mid-February, is Siamese Sweet pummelo x we expect that they will produce next year,” which maintains a “Garden Hesperidarium” blood orange; now there are over 100 acres (Dancy mandarin x Ruby blood orange); it said Dr. De Graca. “Dr. Louzada is hoping of unusual citrus varieties in Tuscany. of such blood mandarins in cultivation in Italy, combines large size and low acidity from its this will be the next new variety, but we are Citrus scientists have long maintained according to Dr. Giuseppe Reforgiato Recu- pummelo parent, complex, floral taste from still a few years away from any release,” he that there is no such thing as a pure pero. A few years ago he and his colleagues the Dancy, and juicy red pulp from the Ruby. added in a recent message. —D.K.

18 january & february 2007 fruit gardener they taste flat, and also tend to develop an unpleasant musty aroma. This happens sources of bloods because hydroxycinnamic acids, which en- hance the taste of prime blood oranges, lat- er deteriorate to form vinylphenols, which impart nasty off- that are medicinal or moldy. As another result of the peculiar chemi- cal composition of blood oranges, when they are juiced, pasteurization, concentra- tion and storage degrade quality far more than for blonde oranges. As the pigments shift, the juice turns brownish-red; en- zymes specific to blood oranges precipitate the pulp, causing a cloudy texture; and aromas are altered. Historically these prob- lems have kept the fruit from being mar- California Citrus Specialties keted as juice. (Lance Walheim, Mike Foskett). Grows In compensation, blood oranges are and wholesales Moro, Tarocco and exceptionally high in phytochemicals with Spanish Sanguinelli blood oranges. antioxidant properties, including antho- cyanins, hydroxycinnamic acids, hesperi- din and C, all present in greater in the Philippines, where it never even gets late 19th century, as exports to America and amounts than in blonde varieties. Studies chilly enough to turn rinds from green to northern Europe flourished. have shown that these compounds scavenge orange, much less to provide a red blush, free radicals that can cause cancer; lower but perhaps the variety was appreciated A Visit to Blood Orange Central LDL cholesterol, the type that fosters heart for fine flavor, whatever the color, or was Italy, and North Africa are the disease; and protect against diabetes. in transit from China. Later, two Flo- only places where blood oranges are com- rentines, the painter Bartolomeo Bimbi mercially important today, and Sicily, where Blood Oranges Origins in China (1648–1730) and the botanist Pietro blood oranges account for 60 percent of or- Mutations from blonde to blood oranges Antonio Micheli (1679–1737), depicted ange production—some 155,000 acres—is have occurred a number of times in various blood oranges. the primary center of their cultivation and citrus-growing areas of the world, prob- In his Traité du Citrus (1811), Georges appreciation. To understand the fruit’s mys- ably first in China, in or near where sweet Gallesio observed that the “oranger à fruit tique at the source, I spent two weeks in oranges originated. In the 1950s scientists rouge,” less sweet than common oranges, eastern Sicily visiting growers, shippers and found blood oranges growing in the moun- was then commonly cultivated in Malta, citrus scientists. tains of Hunan, and the Chinese raise these Provence and Liguria. In the Histoire Na- I paid a call on Dr. Francesco Russo, native blood oranges, called “Xuechen,” turelle des Orangers (1818–1822), Antoine the dean of blood orange researchers, in dooryards, said Xiuxin Deng, a citrus Risso noted that it was formerly believed who retired as director of variety im- specialist at Huazhong Agricultural Univer- that the blood orange resulted from the provement at the Istituto Sperimentale sity. It’s not clear, however, whether such of a common orange on pomegran- per L’Agrumicoltura, the island’s leading Chinese blood oranges were in some way ate . He described the “Orange de center for citrus studies. As we chatted ancestral to modern varieties grown in the Malte,” which, like many modern blood in his elegant parlor in the seaside vil- Mediterranean region and United States. oranges, was spherical, of medium size, lage of Santa Tecla, he filled in much The blood oranges now grown commer- with a pebbly rind, few seeds, and red pulp geographical and historical background cially in China, on some 2,500 acres, are of excellent flavor. For many years the name concerning Sicilian citrus. The eastern modern Italian varieties. Malta was applied as a general term for coast of Sicily, from Messina in the north The first surviving European men- blood oranges, and a sauce made with the down to Syracuse, is lemon country; in tion of blood oranges came in 1646 when fruit is still called “maltaise” in traditional the south-central part, west of Agrigento, Giovanni Battista Ferrari, a Roman Jesuit French cookery. navels predominate; around Palermo, in scholar, wrote in his great treatise on cit- In Sicily the first blood oranges were the north-central part, there are mostly rus, Hesperides Sive de Malorum Aureorum called “Sanguigne,” a name that referred lemons, and a few oranges and mandarins; Cultura et Usu, that a Genoese missionary both to blood oranges in general and to the inland from , blood oranges and had brought from the Philippines a variety oldest variety, Sanguigno Semplice. The mandarins flourish. In this area 5 to 20 similar to other sweet oranges, but “with variety’s rind is well-colored, the flesh less miles from the sea, on fertile volcanic soil purple-colored flesh, which tastes strangely so, and it is fairly seedy. It fetched low pric- erupted by Mt. Etna, hot summers bring different, like grape.” It seems unlikely es at local markets, but better blood orange the fruit sweetness; cold winter nights that blood oranges would have been grown varieties led to expanded cultivation by the alternating with mild days favor the red- fruit gardener january & february 2007 19 dening of rinds and flesh. The season runs came mostly from Francofonte, Sanguinelli genial brothers gesticulated emphatically, from December through April or May, and from Paternò, and Mori from Lentini. Now interrupting each other to pour out their the leading varieties are Tarocco, Moro I should say that is not valid any more—the woes: “It costs 300 lire to produce a kilo of and Sanguinello. younger generation don’t care about the Tarocchi, but we get paid 250. … Often tradition of the place.” we leave the oranges on the ground. … We Main Italian Blood Varieties The Sicilians definitely delight in their can’t continue like this! … People say we The origin of Sanguinello is uncertain, blood oranges, however, and proudly main- should sell, but to whom?” but it was most likely a mutation of San- tain that nowhere else are blood varieties so But Sicilians are rolling up their sleeves guigno discovered in the 19th century near superb. At Catania’s La Fiera market, bathed to fight, by emphasizing the unique and Paternò, south of Mt. Etna. The diminu- by golden morning light in winter, scooters health-giving properties of their blood tive “ello” implies light blood coloration, beep and shoppers bustle between stalls of oranges. In March 1996, Sicilian growers and indeed strains of this type—it’s really a sheep’s milk ricotta and pepato cheeses, glis- got a boost when the “Arancia Rossa di Si- group of similar, related clones—typically tening sardines, fragrant fennel, and heap- cilia” was granted an “indicazione geografica are less ruddy than Moro and Tarocco, but ing baskets of Tarocchi, some cut in half to protetta,” a guarantee of quality and ori- not nearly as light as true “half-blood” vari- reveal their ruby flesh. All over town, from —similar to the D.O.C. for wines—that eties. Sweet and rich-flavored, Sanguinello the backs of three-wheeled trucks, weathered is part of a labeling program developed by ripens a bit later than other Italian variet- Tarocco vendors cry “dolcissimi!”—“mine are the European Union in cooperation with ies, and it hangs well on the tree, so it’s the sweetest!” Long after midnight, crowds the Italian government. The I.G.P. restricts generally marketed from February to April. gather at kiosks to sip the vermilion-colored the designation to blood oranges from the One common strain is named Sanguinello juice blended with water. classic growing region in eastern Sicily that Moscato for its supposed flavor of muscat Sicilians traditionally eat their blood meet the project’s standards for size, sweet- grape—yet another forced attempt to con- oranges at the end of a meal. They rarely ness, and color. vey the elusive flavor of blood oranges. serve them in restaurant dishes, except for To enhance the prestige of Sicilian blood Tarocco, the king of blood oranges, dessert, but at home Sicilians love blood oranges, Princess Maria Carla Borghese, is a mutation of Sanguinello discovered oranges in a salad with red onions, olive oil, who grows organic blood oranges on her around 1900, reputedly in Francofonte, salt, pepper, and often, fresh fennel. Along estate, Il Biviere, in Lentini, started a pro- and named either for the resemblance of the Via Etnea, Catania’s main boulevard, gram called “Le Arance della Salute”—“Or- the original strain to a toy top—it can have crowded in early evening with a spirited anges of Health.” On the last Saturday in a “neck”, like a Minneola —or after passeggiata, I sampled blood orange cake January, volunteers sell bags of Mori and the Italian word for tarot cards. Medium and gelato, as well as marzipan faux or- Tarocchi in hundreds of piazzas throughout to large in size, with tender, rag-free flesh, anges, but my favorite sweets, at the famous Italy to benefit cancer research. and a sweet, well-balanced flavor, Tarocco pasticceria A. Savia, were quaresimali: chewy For years commercial processing of is hailed in Italy as the supreme “arancia Carnival biscotti of almond paste, pistachio, blood was infeasible, because da tavola,” or table orange, and represents and dried orange rind. it turned muddy brown and lost flavor, but 60 percent of the country’s blood orange with recent advances (partly involving low- production. In chemical composition it Citrus Crisis Beleaguers Growers temperature handling), supermarkets now in some ways resembles the navel orange, The bounty of Sicilian blood oranges offer cartons of chilled “spremuta.” Tropi- although it lacks that fruit’s distinctive is not good news for everyone. As I toured cana sells blood orange juice across Europe, aroma. Often the pulp is attractively bicol- the groves, passing meadows of fluores- and Volcano brand Sicilian blood orange ored, blonde at the stem end, and red at the cent yellow-green flowers, and peered into juice is exported to the United States. blossom end. The variety seems genetically ancient, abandoned farmhouses, I met unstable and has given rise to several dozen many growers who lamented the “crisi degli Blood Orange Wrappers in Italy named mutations, differing in season, fruit agrumi,” the “citrus crisis.” Italy produces As one might expect from Italians, their size, color and growing habit. more than three billion pounds of blood blood oranges are elegantly dressed. When Moro (“Moor”), which developed near oranges yearly, far exceeding domestic de- the export trade in Sicilian blood oranges Lentini from Sanguinello Moscato in the mand. Most farms are small (under three emerged at the end of the last century, ship- early 20th century, is prized for its reliable acres on average), and wages are high, so pers started using thin paper wrappers to and often intense pigmentation: the rind is production costs are twice Spain’s, ten times protect the fruit against desiccation and sometimes completely covered in red, and ’s. Since barriers to free trade in mold. These “scacchetti” usually bore the the flesh ranges from burgundy-streaked to citrus were eliminated in the 1990s, cheap name of the variety and the producer or almost black. Ripening early in the season, foreign blondes have been beating out Ital- shipper, as well as colorful images designed from December to March, Moro is popular ian bloods on export markets. to stimulate the imagination of buyers in on export markets for its dramatic color, In Francofonte, famous for the quality distant lands. Some reflect the Sicilian land- but it is comparatively tart, and in Italy it is of its Tarocchi, I met Antonino and Mario scape (Etna erupting orange juice); others are primarily used to make thick, tangy, dark- Turiano supervising the 1996 harvest. As pure fancy (singing cats, a Tarocco wearing hued juice. workers on ladders filled crates with oranges a Walkman). After 1960, carnauba wax re- “In the old days,” recalled Russo, who and heaved them onto a truck, and a goat placed wrappers on most citrus, but their use started at the Institute in 1947, “Tarocchi chomped calmly on a spiny cactus pear, the continued on blood oranges, especially for

20 january & february 2007 fruit gardener export, to distinguish this premium fruit. with red, he recalled the vanished groves: supplant the Ruby until the 60s. In the For years I collected these wrappers, “When I was a school kid, many ranches early 80s increased interest in specialty always crinkled from use. The last night of had three or four rows of Malta Bloods. fruits, along with a taste for blood oranges my trip, as I dined at one of Catania’s best When the fruits got ripe in March and April, in Americans who had traveled to Europe, restaurants, a distinguished-looking busi- we’d ship them to the East, where Christians fed a mini-revival. High prices attracted nessman at the next table overheard my talk bought them around Easter, and Jews for a growers, and plantings increased steadily of blood oranges. He turned out to be Plac- holiday before that. But the packing house until about 1993. As new trees came into ido Manganaro, third-generation owner of manager would cuss when the customers bearing, production surged, and by the late Sicily’s leading printer of wrappers. Though wanted 50 cartons of bloods in a 1,000- 90s the market was glutted. Eventually the it was almost midnight and my plane was carton car. We pulled out the bloods about cycle turned, and recently growers have leaving early the next morning, I accepted 1939, because the demand for them faded, been planting bloods again. his invitation to visit his factory south of but kept this tree next to the guest house. It’s Catania. He opened the security gates, nice to have around, just an odd variety.” Blood Oranges in California Today turned on the lights, and showed me the What about the intriguing religious link? About 350 of the 500 acres of blood printing presses. Finally, he let me loose in The egg shape of the Malta Blood may have oranges in California grow in the “citrus the archives. In a feverish hour, I gathered a inspired its popularity at Easter; perhaps the belt” along the southeastern edge of the San collection of 350 wrappers. symbolism of Christ’s blood also played a Joaquin Valley, from Bakersfield to north In 2005 Sicilian growers launched a part. The Jewish holiday was probably Pu- of Fresno. In this microclimate, dangerous campaign called Sweet to promote rim, when the mishloach manot, a gift plat- -laden air drains down to lower eleva- fresh blood orange exports to the United ter of baked goods sent to neighbors and tions, but it’s still chilly enough to produce States. I always look for imported Ital- relatives, traditionally included an orange. deep-colored bloods. Most of the other ian blood oranges at fancy markets in At Passover, too, Sephardic Jews baked or- plantings, including many small and or- the Northeast, but perhaps because U.S. ange cakes. It makes even more sense when ganic groves that sell at farmers markets, are agricultural regulations require the fruit to one recalls that in Europe, Jewish traders in Southern California, in north San Diego, spend 10 to14 days in cold storage, to kill controlled the early export trade of Sicilian Ventura and Riverside counties. off insect pests, and blood oranges are sus- blood oranges from Messina. More than 90 percent of California ceptible to temperature and storage mishan- The first strain of Malta Blood, which blood oranges are Moros, favored by grow- dling, they often disappoint. The truth is, was round, originated as a “ sport of ers because the trees are vigorous and California can grow blood oranges that are the ordinary sweet orange,” according to a productive, and the fruits “color up” most just as good, and they’re fresher. 1922 book on the fruits of the island. The reliably. As in Sicily, the harvest runs from Malta Egg-Blood, a less strongly pigmented December to April, but the first Moros tend Early History in the United States but better-flavored variety widely exported to be tart, and by March specimens grown In the mid-19th century Downing’s in the 19th century, originated as a sport on in the San Joaquin Valley taste like old ten- Fruits and Fruit Trees of America praised an oval-fruited sweet orange tree in 1850, nis sneakers. Bloods mature a month later Maltese and Blood-Red oranges for their and eventually supplanted the earlier strain. in Southern California, where Moros can “excellent flavor.” In the early years of In modern Tunisia the oval Malta Blood retain good flavor into April, or even later California orange growing, farmers tried is still a major variety, grown on 13,000 in some years. Some grocers try to avoid the many varieties before focusing on navels acres. Much of the crop is exported to sanguinary stigma of blood oranges by call- and Valencias. It was probably one such France, where “Maltaises” are prized for ing them “red,” “burgundy” or “raspberry” pioneer, Thomas A. Garey, who imported their sweet, delicate flavor and tender flesh, oranges; , the cooperative that Malta Blood oranges from Florida or the despite their light coloration. But Ameri- markets the majority of California bloods, Mediterranean in the 1870s. By the 1880s cans have always eaten with their eyes, and labels all of them “Moro” oranges. this was a widely planted variety, in such in the early 1900s the Ruby, a round Italian California growers have not planted demand that counterfeiters reportedly in- variety that sometimes produced darker many Taroccos, despite their superb eat- jected dye into regular oranges to sell them fruit, began to replace the Malta Blood in ing quality, because the prevailing local as bloods. May 23, 1891, the Citrograph, a California. Unlike most blood oranges, strain has exhibited prolonged juvenility, a Redlands newspaper, vaunted “tons of lus- which typically have just a seed or two, flaw that perhaps arose when the original cious, blood-red fruit” from the “southern it was fairly seedy. By mid-century it was Tarocco clone was repropagated by seed to citrus empires” of Riverside, San Diego, Los virtually the only blood orange grown in rid it of disease. Whatever the cause, the Angeles and Orange counties. California, and only on a very small scale. trees are excessively thorny, and take six or Though of outstanding flavor, Maltas Packing houses, attuned to mass production seven years (versus four for the Moro) to were lightly colored and unproductive, so of uniform fruit, disdained unreliably pig- bear fruit, which often fail to develop good they eventually lost out to other varieties. mented blood oranges. At the lowest ebb, color, especially on the rind. But Edmund Patterson, Jr., a crusty Red- no commercial market existed, just a few “Nothing pisses off a retail buyer faster lands grower who recently celebrated his scattered trees in groves owned by Italians, than sending him blank blood oranges,” 100th birthday, still cherishes a Malta Blood who sold the fruit as a novelty. observed Lance Walheim, a pioneer in tree planted in 1886. One afternoon, as he The first Moros and Taroccos arrived growing and marketing specialty citrus in mused over the oval fruit, lightly mottled in California in the early 1940s, but didn’t the San Joaquin Valley. “It’s ironic, because fruit gardener january & february 2007 21 C a l i f o r n i a r a r e f r U i t g r o W e r s

Taroccos absolutely have the best flavor, but the dark pink-fleshed Italian variety of acidless orange which when they come on, there are a lot of cheap orange, has vaulted in the last two de- taste a bit like an orange Creamsicle; a Moros. I don’t know whether people are cades from novelty to supermarket staple. few growers in the San Joaquin Valley familiar enough with the varieties to distin- Although sometimes confused for a blood sell it as a novelty, but there’s virtually guish among them.” variety, it’s different in origin, chemistry no commercial production. The Sarah and taste: it’s pigmented with lycopene, a variety of Israel is a pink-fleshed sport of The Best Selections to Grow reddish-pink carotenoid that colors pink Shamouti common orange, a standard California growers have selected, from grapefruits, tomatoes, and variety in the Eastern Mediterranean. slight mutations in their groves, several im- guavas. (Like anthocyanins, lycopene is In the Kirkwood navel is proved Tarocco strains, the best-colored of a potent antioxidant and may help to similar to Cara Cara, but with deeper ly- which is the Bream. It’s a lengthy, expensive prevent cancer.) Cara Cara also contains copene color. process to import foreign varieties into the relatively high amounts of beta-carotene, Most important, in South Africa United States and make sure they’re free compared to standard navel oranges. Ex- growers have discovered several lycopene of disease, but recently Sun Pacific, a large ternally it resembles a regular navel with sports of Valencia. Navels, including Cara citrus grower, privately has brought in two a light pink blush; on the inside, it’s a Cara, aren’t ideal for processing, because superior modern Tarocco selections from gorgeous deep salmon when harvest starts the juice develops a syndrome called Sicily, so in a few years this finest of oranges in November and December, although delayed bitterness, but Valencia is the may be more common in the U.S. by the end of the season, in March and world’s preeminent juice orange. Chester In the last two decades blood oranges April, the color fades slightly. The pulp Roistacher, a plant pathologist now re- have fallen out of commercial cultivation in is relatively low in acidity, with a mild, tired from the University of California at Spain, but in California the Spanish San- almost tutti-frutti flavor. Riverside, encountered a Pink Valencia guinelli (different from the Italian Sangui- This variety originated as a sport on at the Hope Farm, near Tzaneen, South nello), appears in small quantities late in the a limb of a Navel at the Africa, in 1977, but when he later tried season, from March to May. Oval in shape, Cara Cara, in , in to obtain budwood for grafting, it was it has a bright cherry-red blush on the rind, the early 1970s. In the United States it unavailable. “I kicked myself ever after- and moderate internal color, concentrated was first planted in Florida in the early wards for not getting it while I could,” he at the segment walls. Growers say they taste 1990s, and marketed as a “red navel.” As said. In the 1990s, however, the so-called good, but I find that they tend to be dry, grown in Florida, however, Cara Cara is Ruby Valencia was found near Nelspruit. and I’ve never had one that made me want pale, watery and insipid, and it has faded South Africa citrus scientists are still more. In my opinion, the Smith Red Valen- from commercial cultivation there. The studying several clones of Ruby Valencia, cia, California’s native blood orange, offers variety is richer in color and flavor in with varying sizes and numbers of seeds, the best combination of good production, California, where more than 2,200 acres and are preparing to chose one for com- color and flavor, and it holds well on the have been planted. mercial introduction, said Graham Barry tree until April. The anthocyanins in blood oranges of Citrus Research International. Blood oranges’ relatively short harvest are synthesized from the that Since supermarkets typically carry a doz- places them at a disadvantage in American dominate in blonde oranges, but by con- en or more differently formulated orange commerce, where retailers and foodservice trast the lycopene in Cara Cara results (with unstrained pulp, high calcium, users demand consistent supplies, but one from the interruption of enzymatic pro- etc.), it seems likely that some day pinkish- California citrus company is looking to cesses before some of the yellow-orange red orange juice may be commonly avail- extend the season by bringing in a range carotenoids are created. In Cara Cara the able, just as there are red and yellow forms of Turkish varieties that mature over eight interruption appears to be different or of . It can take a while for months. Many times over the years, I’ve less complete than in red grapefruit, as new fruits to catch on, but lycopene orange received desperate phone calls from maga- beta-carotene is still produced; as a result varieties, like bloods, appear to have all the zine photographers looking for blood the juice is pinkish-orange, not pure pink. ingredients for success: they’re attractive, oranges in August and September, when Moreover, the mutation that created Cara different, tasty and healthful. none was available for love or money, but Cara resulted in a plant that can be geneti- recently a few contraseasonal imports have cally unstable, so that limbs sometimes David Karp writes about and photographs fruit for articles in The Times and other publications, and for a book on arrived from Australia. revert to the straight navel orange type, or fruit to be published by W.W. Norton. This article is a version of a bear fruits that are Cara Cara on one half, chapter from that work. Cousin Cara Cara and Other normal navel on the other. To vote for this article as the best in this issue, go to http:// www.crfg.org/phpbb and select the Fruit Gardener forum. Post Lycopene-Pigmented Oranges Lycopene mutations similar to Cara a message with the subject header shown as 39-1-03 or send In the United States blood oranges Cara have occurred in several regions and a postcard to the Development Fund Committee. In either case have never quite made it into the main- orange groups. The oldest appears to be your comments are welcome. stream, but another pigmented mutation, Vaniglia Sanguigno (“Vanilla Blood”), an (for bibliography turn to page 30)

22 january & february 2007 fruit gardener