Jaffa orange
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The Jaffa orange, also known as the Shamouti orange, is a very sweet, almost seedless orange exported from Israel. They take their name from the city of Jaffa.
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[edit] Characteristics
Jaffa oranges are very similar to Valencia oranges, though they are much sweeter in taste. They are characterized by their oval shape, sweet flavor, and strong aroma. The peel is light orange in color, and is normally very easy to remove from the fruit.
These oranges are very cold-tolerant, allowing them to grow outside of the tropical regions normally associated with growing oranges. Jaffa oranges ripen in the spring to summer months, making it a midseason fruit.
Jaffa oranges are susceptible to Alternaria, a type of fungus, and are prone to alternate bearing.
[edit] History
According to Daniel Rogov, the variety "originated in China and Cochin-China. No one knows precisely when the sweet orange was introduced into Palestine, but the first orange tree was probably brought to this part of the world in the early 16th century, when Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama brought a root of the tree from China to Portugal. It is from that single tree, still preserved in Lisbon at the home of the Count de Saint-Laurent that all of the oranges of Portugal, Spain, France and Israel have come.[1]
The first fruits to carry the "Jaffa orange" brand were from an agricultural colony of the Temple Society in Sarona (commonly pronounced Sharona, est. 1871).
According to the Hope Simpson Royal Commission Report of 1930,
"The cultivation of the orange, introduced by the Arabs before the commencement of Jewish settlement, has developed to a very great extent in consequence of that settlement. There is no doubt that the pitch of perfection to which the technique of plantation and cultivation of the orange and grape-fruit have been brought in Palestine is due to the scientific methods of the Jewish agriculturist."[2]
This variety of orange was first brought to the United States by H. S. Stanford during the 1880s. Stanford brought the oranges to Florida, where they are still grown today.
[edit] Symbolic value
Jaffa oranges serve as a symbol in the Palestinian folklore and literature. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, some Palestinian farmers were separated from orange groves that their families had tended for generations. For many Palestinians, Jaffa oranges symbolize the bounty of what they view to be their lost homeland.[3]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Daniel Rogov's Citrus Fruits - Thanks to da Gama
- ^ The Hope Simpson Report at UNISPAL. CHAPTER VIII. Agricultural Produce. (a) CITRUS CULTIVATION
- ^ Orange growing in Palestine
