We are used to fruits turning from green to red or some other bright colour to tell us that they are ripe. This is not for our benefit ( in evolutionary terms) but for birds or other creatures that devour the fruits and disperse the seeds. But we seem to know that a red strawberry is going to be tastier than a white one and we are naturally attracted to apples with a red flush. But we cannot always rely on our eyes.

Which orange would you choose out of these two? The lovely orange one or the green one? Well oranges are not as simple as they look because green oranges can be just as sweet as orange oranges. There are two reasons for this. Anyone who has been to tropical climates will know that green oranges taste OK. Originally from China, the orange (and I know there are lots of hybrids and forms of oranges and related citrus) will not generally tolerate frost but it does need cool temperatures to make the skin change from green to orange, whether the fruit is ripe or not. And the other reason is that, if the ripe fruit is left on the tree after it is ripe and the next set of flowers is opening, the fruits can change from orange to green again. In this case these green oranges are even riper and sweeter than before when they were orange. Confused?

Well I did a little test and cut and squeezed orange and green oranges and, yes, they both tasted the same and were all sweet.

chilling and orange skin colour, green oranges