Oranges are vibrant, living laboratories, brimming with a rich diversity of natural organic compounds. From sweet (like navel) to sour (including Seville), each type of orange offers its own unique chemical profile and culinary appeal. With global production at around 75 million tonnes annually, sweet oranges reign as the world’s most cultivated citrus fruit, prized not just for their flavour, but also for their complex chemical cocktail.
Oranges are far more than a refreshing snack – they are a convenient source of vitamin C (Figure 1). One medium sweet orange can provide over 70 mg of vitamin C – almost the entire recommended daily intake for an adult. Unlike many animals, humans cannot synthesise this vitamin, so oranges and other citrus fruits have become essential dietary sources. Citric acid (Figure 2) is the major organic acid in sour oranges. It is a central player in the citric acid cycle (Krebs cycle), a crucial energy-generating process that takes place in nearly every living cell.
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