When are oranges not orange?https://imgur.com/a/joIef.jpg

Some of you dear friends may have heard about the contents of this post, but for those who have'nt please enjoy. I know that the title sounds like a play on words but it isn't, on the Italian island of Sicily the clear answer is "when they are red" and by that I am talking about Sicilian blood oranges, so named due to the dramatic color of their flesh, ranging from orange veined with ruby
to vivid crimson to vermilion
to almost black. . Their rind is orange with a hue
of purple blush or red,and their aroma
is mouth waterinly fresh. Their flavor is intense
and tart-sweet and it has been said to have a"tint of raspberry ".
Citrus fruits have been cultivated in Italy from
ancient times. Oranges likely reached
Sicily from Asia by the fourth century c.e
but these were blond(non red) sour oranges.
The sweet oranges reached Europe by means of the Portuguese in the 14th and 15th centuries and from there was introduced into the Americas along with a variety of citrus fruits,
But blood oranges were first formally identified in Sicily in the start of the 20th century.

WHY RED?
All oranges contain carotene, the same same yellow-orange pigment that gives egg yolkand carrots their color.
The unusual thing about Sicilian blood oranges of the varieties Moro, tarocco and sanguinello. is that they develop anthocyanin , a red pigment which bestows a distinctive red hue on ripe fruits. Another intriguing thing is that, move a blood orange from limited areas of the Eastern parts of Sicily and plant it elsewhere and the fruit may not necessarily be red at all. Not all factors involved in the anthocyanin formation in Sicilian blood oranges are clear.
The unique combination of factors ranging from soil, temperature and modest rainfall are thought to be responsible for the distinctiveness of the Sicilian blood orange.

A FRUIT TO BE APPRECIATED
Besides their exceptional
Color these fruits have nutritional value . tarocco oranges have the highest vitamin-c content among all citrus fruits, just one medium-sized orange is enough to supply the recommended daily allowance of the vitamin, a glass of thick freshly squeezed juice is a delicious and healthy source of readily assimilable, energy yielding simple carbs, minerals and fiber. Numerous benefits are claimed for blood oranges.
Connoisseurs, without a doubt,concur that these Sicilian fruits are among"the world's finest dessert oranges because of their intense flavor, ideal balance of acidity and sweetness and complex lingering aftertaste "one day you may have the opportunity to judge for yourself whether or not you agree.