Orange: Keeping Qualities and Culinary Uses

As with nearly all fruits, the flavour of a freshly picked orange is far better than that of a commercial grower’s product. Modern oranges are robust and do not spoil quickly, a fact which unfortunately is exploited. An orange may undergo cleaning with detergent; ‘degreening’ with ethylene gas—which removes green but leaves the orange pale yellow, so that it has to be coated with orange dye; wax polishing to reduce moisture loss; and a long time in refrigerated storage before it reaches its eventual buyer.