Did You Know That Oranges Weren't Always Orange?

There's nothing quite as refreshing as biting into a nice, juicy orange. It's like biting into a delicious bite of summer. Sticky and sweet, it's the perfect snack, made all the better by its bright, vibrant color. But there's something you should know about America's second-most popular fruit: It didn't always look this way. In fact, they used to come in a rainbow of colors that are hard to imagine.

As History Facts explained, you can trace the fruit's beginnings back to the Himalayas some 8 million years ago. From there, orange trees sprouted up through the Indian subcontinent and China. However, it noted that these oranges from millennia ago came in various shapes and colors, including yellow fruits that looked more like lemons and likely had smoother skins closer to a pomelo. And that's because "All the oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruits we eat today are descendants of just a handful of ancient species, namely citrons, pomelos, and mandarins, all native to South Asia and East Asia," so naturally they'd look a bit more the same.

The fruit, the Journal of Agricultural and Food Information explained, didn't make its way to the U.S. until the 1500s, when Spanish settlers planted seeds in Florida. But again, even before they made their way to the Western world, oranges — and everything that came with them — were beloved.

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"Citrus held a special place in the Islamic soul, being loved for its graceful form, the intensity of its evergreen leaves, and its hedonistic blossom," Clarissa Hyman wrote in Oranges: A Global History. "The flowers, fruit, and leaves were also used in medicine, gastronomy, and the cosmetic arts. The wood was fashioned into the most beautiful furniture, even the twig eggs were shredded and used as disposable toothbrushes."

So, how did we arrive at the orange oranges we recognize today? This transformation resulted from extensive selective breeding over thousands of years, which standardized their appearance and enhanced their flavor, shifting from possibly bitter to sweet. According to History Facts, a period of "intensive cultivation" began around the 16th century, significantly influencing their modern form.

It also pointed to Word Smarts, which explained that the name "orange" referred to the fruit first, then the color. Its origin is from the Sanskrit word nāranga via the Persian and Arabic languages, and later through the French word for the citrus fruit, pomme d’orenge. It wasn't used as a descriptor for color in English until the 1500s, many centuries after the cultivation of oranges began.

By the way, you can still find green oranges today. They continue to grow in warmer climates, as oranges actually turn orange when exposed to cold weather. In fact, as History Facts noted, sometimes, if oranges don't turn orange, they will be treated to turn into the orange hue we all know and love. Hopefully, next time you enjoy an orange, you'll stop for a moment and appreciate all its rich history. At the very least, you'll have a fun fact to share with a friend.

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