What are the most popular fruits you often consume? We bet you can’t think of a list without orange! Orange is among the most common citrus fruit variety for several across the globe. It is most popularly consumed as a fruit, juice, or pulp. But did you know there are different types of oranges? Yes, you heard us right! One of our favorite fruit, enriched with Vitamin C, antioxidants, and minerals, vary according to its varieties. These types distinctly have their unique flavor and taste, according to their kind.

Are you interested to know more? Please keep reading, and we are here with some interesting facts on different orange varieties.


Image Source: Freepik

Oranges: What Are They, Brief History And Facts!

Oranges are among the most popular citrus fruits. These belong to the genus Citrus and the family Rutaceae. These fruits appear almost round in shape, with shades of orange, orangish-yellow, and so on. These fruits, to begin with, are initially native to tropical climatic regions only. They were mostly found around China and Asia and are believed to originated somewhere around these nations. In later ages, they spread to other continents like Africa and the Mediterranean regions. However, in recent days, one can find fruits even in tropical America and Australia. Now, Brazil is the topmost orange producer globally, with the US accounting for the second.

Here is another interesting fact. There are over 400 varieties and kinds of oranges approximately. However, it isn’t easy to account for them. But isn’t it interesting to estimate and learn the most common types and orange species?

Classification of Oranges:

To begin with, for an easy understanding, let us first classify the oranges into three varieties based on their taste. These include Sweet Oranges, Bitter Oranges, and Sour oranges.

Sweet oranges are the most famous type in the classification. As the name suggests, their taste is pretty sweet, and most people like it. They are comparatively easy to find than others and are easy to grow too. Common types of sweet oranges are Persian orange, navel orange, blood orange, and Valencia orange. On the other hand, bitter oranges types are present heavily around Vietnam. This is because they are generally high in yield. Common types of bitter oranges are bergamot orange, daidai, and Seville orange. Sour oranges have a very distinct taste and are native to Asia and the South Sea Islands. They are popular as salads, salted and coated with pepper. The common types here include Goleta and Bouquet orange.

See More: Popular Mango Varieties

Most Popular Types Of Oranges Names List

Now, let us go ahead and learn about the different varieties and types of oranges with images. While some are distinct from each other, some are not. However, these orange fruit varieties all make up to most famous types globally.

1. Mandarins:


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The types of Mandarin oranges are among the most common types of oranges. These types of citrus fruits are smaller in size compared to others, flat in shape with loose skin. The mandarins fall in a sweeter variety without any bitter taste. They are also seedless. They are easy to peel off and consume and are ideally suitable for snacks, salads, and toppings. In most cases, Mandarins are popular and easy to cultivate from January to May.

2. Navel:


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The Navel oranges, unlike Mandarins, albeit falling under the sweeter category, have a bitter feeling. They are among common types of orangs. These types of oranges are perfect for snacks, eating raw, salads, or grilling recipes. The sweeter flavor within them and certain variants also allow us to use them for juicing or making bread and muffins to enhance the recipe flavor. The Navel oranges grow from months of November to June.

3. Valencia:


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If you are searching for juicy citrus fruits, then the Valencia orange varieties are suitable for you. The Valencia oranges are perfect in looks, with thick skin. They are juicy sweet oranges, ideal for a fresh drink. Valencia oranges have a lot of seeds, so don’t forget to remove them during intake. They are also suitable for salads. Most Valencia oranges are famous around the United States, and their harvesting is from March to July.

4. Blood Orange:


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Are you wondering how did this orange get its name? Well, as the name suggests, this fruit comes in very deep red in color with lots of flesh. The types of blood oranges are in perfect shape and color, with a sweet and juicy feel. They are generally ripe, and given the high amounts of sweetness, these fruits are ideal as sauces, desserts, or marmalade. Winters are the right season to grow the blood oranges.

5. Cara Cara:


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The Cara Cara oranges are particularly suitable for those searching for low acidic nutrients. They are classified into sweeter types of oranges and hence are ideal for juice and snacks. They come with deeper dark color and are a cross of blood and navel oranges. The tinge of sweetness is pretty heavy in this variant, almost reminding us of berries fruits. The Cara Cara’s have no or very few seeds. Also popular as red-fleshed navel oranges, Cara Cara’s are native of Venezuela. They are present in months from December to April.

6. Seville:


Image Source: Shutterstock

The Seville oranges fall under the classification of sour oranges. They are more on bitter and sour taste and lesser on sweetness. So, if you are a great fan of marmalade or sour salads, or marinades, this is perfect for the dish. In addition, they are also suitable for cocktails, sauces, jellies, or dressings. These oranges are acidic in nature, and hence one cannot consume them raw. Sevilles growing season is from December to February.

7. Tangerines:


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Tangerines are smaller than other regular oranges, are easy to peel, and have a higher level of sweetness. However, these can be considered nearer versions to mandarins with smaller differences in taste and appearance. The tangerines are perfect for snacks, drinks, salads, and baking. They are grown very easily and are available from November to May. These are popular among types of small oranges.

See More: Different Kinds of Avocados

8. Clementines:


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The different Clementinestypes of oranges are very tiny and smaller in size, very distinct from other types. They are seedless, easy to peel and eat and have a sweetish and tinge of sour taste. The clementines indeed are unique with their taste and minimal size, perfect to carry and eat anything. They are suitable for salads, and baking and are ready for consumption anytime. The growing season of Clementines is from November to January.

9. Kumquats:


Image Source: Freepik

Kumquats oranges are also other smaller oranges and are perfect little adorable fruits with oval shapes. They come in sour taste, with citrus content high. The kumquats are perfect for salads, cocktails, and marmalade, and also adding them to pies. Kumquats are grown in winters.

10. Satsumas:


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Most of them confuse Satsumas as a variant like Tangerines. They look like a smaller version of mandarins; however, they are seedless with skin very loose to the fruit. Henceforth, they are obviously very easy to peel. Different satsumas are mostly famous in the US areas, in the seasons from November to January. They are ideal for grilled dishes like chicken and fish toppings, salads, orange cake, and desserts. Moreover, their tasty flavor adds the perfect tinge of flavor to most sweet dishes.

11. Kishus:


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Often, Kishus are also popular as soft candy due to their sweetness and heavy flavor in them. Kishus are very similar to very small and tiny tangerines. Given their perfect taste, Kishus are ideal for desserts, toppings, and salads too! Unfortunately, they are less famous in many parts of the globe and are ideally possible to grow only in the months of February and March.

12. Santra:


Image Source: Freepik

Santra is an Indian variety of Oranges, found very famously all around the states in the subcontinent. They are medium in size with an orangish tint of color and sweetness in the flavor. These fruit types are very juicy, making them ideal for making drinks, and refreshments. They, however, also taste good raw. Most often, the growing months of Santras are from monsoons to winters.

13. Bergamot Orange:


Image Source: Freepik

Unlike the other types of oranges, you will not recognize this variant of citrus fruit as one among them. The Bergamot oranges come with a greenish color similar to looking like lemons. However, they are large, like oranges. The Bergamot is intensely bitter and has an acidic taste. This makes the fruits fall under the non-consumable variety. Instead, they are primarily grown for their peel. Their peel is famous for perfumes and making teas. Bergamots are available in mild winters and cannot take a heavy cool climate.

14. Acid-less Orange:


Image Source: Freepik

As the name suggests, the acid-less oranges have a very less acidic content. Hence, they are naturally sweeter in taste. However, they are quite neutral in terms of flavor. The acid-less oranges, given this, are ideally suitable for direct intake than to add to other recipes or make refreshments and juices.

15. Trifoliata Orange:


Image Source: Freepik

Finally, we have the Trifoliata oranges. These types of oranges look a bit tiny and are fuzzy. This is because they belong to hardy citrus fruits that are available only from early June to winter. The taste of these fruits is distinct, giving us the impression that they appear near to grapefruits and lemons. This makes them ideal to use these fruits for the preparation of jellies, cocktails, and marmalades.

See More: Cucumber Varieties in the World

So, now that you have learned about different varieties and types of oranges, you know what you are purchasing the next time you are in the market. Which all kinds of these citrus fruits did you try? Let us know what do you think in the comments below; we love to hear from you!

FAQ’s

1. How many total varieties of oranges are present globally?

Ans: Estimates say that there are about and over 400 different types of oranges around us worldwide.

2. Which are the largest and big types of oranges out of all?

Ans: The navel oranges are the largest kinds of oranges among all the other varieties popular globally.

3. Which kinds of oranges are healthy and have high levels of vitamin C within them?

Ans: The blood and navel oranges kinds of varieties typically have more than the average and usual amount of Vitamin C nutrients within them.

4. What is the sweetest orange variety?

Ans: The Cara Cara oranges and navel oranges are among the sweetest oranges. These perfect citrus fruits come with rich sweet flavors.

5. How many oranges are good to consume per day?

Ans: Although citrus fruits are great in nutrients, it is ideal to consume them in moderation. Depending on your health conditions, consume not more than one or two oranges per day (differs for patients with diabetes, heart conditions, and so on).

Disclaimer:

This is exclusively a guide about different types of oranges for informative purposes only. The opinions and overview in this article are provided from various sources across the web. The author does not guarantee or promise any accuracy of the facts provided in this article.

Yashasvi

About Yashasvi

Yashasvi developed a deep passion for writing ever since she was completed her Master’s in Mass Communication and Journalism from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam and has chosen a career that is driven by creativity. A Parenting expert who believes in communicating effectively with a personal touch, she writes about pregnancy, baby care, lifestyle, and just about anything else.
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