shiny globes of oranges are stacked in pyramids They appear identical and in their seeming perfection a mundane fruit to slice into wedges and pack in a child's lunchbox But as Katie Goh unravels in Foreign Fruit: A Personal History of the Orange "Citrus is fruit that freely betrays," Goh writes "Plant a seed from an orange and any of the fifteen hundred species of the Rutaceae family Humans have stepped in to curb the citrus family's tendency to cross-pollinate by grafting branches from trees they wish to replicate on sturdy rootstock ensuring the consistent production of one kind of fruit But as anyone who has snacked on clementines and tasted differing levels of sweetness and acidity from fruit to fruit knows the orange "is a fruit born with inherent divergence in its genes." It is this unrepentant multiplicity that spurred Goh to look deeper at the orange in Foreign Fruit an elegant hybrid memoir about hybridity that pulls apart mythologies of colonialism inheritance and identity like the segments of a citrus fruit Goh is multiple: She is a queer person of Chinese Malaysian and Irish heritage who was raised in Northern Ireland her family's history comprises "ancestral roots in China that venture towards the equator and then traverse the long roads from east to west to reach Europe." In retracing that history finely woven exploration of the citrus and the self Goh began peeling back layers in March 2021, when a 21-year-old white man killed eight people in shootings at two spas in the Atlanta area Goh received a query from an editor with the subject line "Asian hate crimes?," asking for an 800-word piece on the shootings from her perspective Goh writes that she sat down at her parent's kitchen table near Belfast and ate five oranges "fistfuls of flesh" that left her jaw aching and her body "hot and heavy and full." After a childhood in 99% white Northern Ireland Goh embraced "the opportunity to break into journalism and to cauterize the past" by writing about her racial identity with "convenient" and "neat" narrative arcs had emptied her out like an orange extracted for every last bit of juice and oil a way of writing about herself indirectly through a refracted lens that explodes the clean narratives she once reduced herself to Each chapter braids together citrus's historical path across the globe with Goh's personal travels where sweet oranges were first cultivated and where a teenage Goh visits her father's ancestral village in Fujian seeking "authenticity" and a sense of easy belonging that eludes her Goh then traces how oranges transitioned from native to foreign as they became commodities along the Silk Roads examining this multifarious lineage in parallel to her own family tree which she constructed during a 2019 stay with her grandparents in Kuala Lumpur Trips to the Netherlands and Austria mirror the orange's path through European empires sparking analysis of how colonization impacted her own life from Britain's conquering of Malaysia to the education she received in Northern Ireland that "polished" Britain's complex history "into a tale of empire finely detailed cinematic present-tense descriptions of historical scenes plunge readers into the past showcasing Goh's talents as a prose stylist Foreign Fruit sidesteps a common pitfall of hybrid memoir where the inquiry into the outside world can be less compelling than the personal journey Goh's choice to construct that personal journey around literal journeys hamstrings opportunities for sustained reflection Goh recounts a trip to Kuala Lumpur to celebrate the Lunar New Year with family where she learns of yet another mass shooting with multiple Asian victims this time committed by an Asian man in a dance hall in Southern California But her tearful meditations that night are interrupted by the sound of celebratory fireworks cutting her reflections off at the surface While Goh has stopped "crushing [her]self to tell a convenient story," using the orange as a "model for hybrid existence" only gets her so far in Foreign Fruit Yet the journey offers much food for thought and readers will never see supermarket displays of oranges the same way again Kristen Martin is the author of The Sun Won't Come Out Tomorrow: The Dark History of American Orphanhood Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine Become an NPR sponsor She is a recent graduate from Duke University where she received a B.A Ava served as the Patient Education Lead for Duke Hospital affiliated programs focusing on combating food insecurity and childhood obesity.Image by Cameron Whitman / StocksyMay 05 2025Can a simple citrus fruit brighten your mood a key player known as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (F but pinpointing exactly how certain foods interact with our brain chemistry has been challenging. may positively influence mental health through their impact on the gut microbiome The study analyzed data from the Nurses' Health Study II which has tracked the health habits of over 100,000 women since 1989. Researchers found that participants who consumed at least one medium orange per day had a significantly lower risk of developing depression compared to those who ate little to no citrus this effect was specific to citrus fruits—other fruits like apples and bananas showed no such correlation The researchers found that this bacterium influences the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine—key molecules involved in mood regulation. prausnitzii levels through diet may help counteract this effect the study's findings were validated in an independent cohort of men strengthening the evidence that the citrus-microbiome connection is not gender-specific adding more citrus to your diet might be a simple natural way to support your mental well-being the next time you're debating between snacks consider reaching for an orange—not just for its vitamin C but for the potential mood boost too All rights reserved.*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration THE GROCERY STORE — If you already know why oranges are sold in mesh bags that are vibrantly orange or red you can just go ahead and stop reading this story right now You can also pat yourself on the back for being smarter than the rest of us I had never thought about why those mesh bags are used I'd always seen oranges in orange mesh bags lemons in yellow mesh bags and limes in green mesh bags But those bags are intentionally designed to encourage you to buy more produce Thanks to a type of optical illusion called the confetti illusion our eyes see more color on the main objects due to the darker-colored mesh that overlays them So, even if the oranges you're about to buy are a bland yellow rather than orange, the magic of the mesh will make them look deeply orange. Check out the secrecy in this video entitled "Supermarket Trickery." we're way too obsessed with the "perfection" of our produce These mesh bags are basically just a mirror that reveals how obsessed society is with looks those mesh bags are certainly preferable to the dyes sometimes used to make our produce look more colorful I'll take an optical illusion to yucky dyes any day of the week Zamanillo-Campos R, Chaplin A, Romaguera D, et al. Longitudinal association of dietary carbohydrate quality with visceral fat deposition and other adiposity indicators U.S. Department of Agriculture: FoodData Central. Oranges, raw, navels Barreca D, Gattuso G, Bellocco E, et al. Flavanones: Citrus phytochemical with health-promoting properties Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. How much water do you need? MedlinePlus. Water in diet Food and Drug Administration. Daily value on the new nutrition and supplement facts labels Barber TM, Kabisch S, Pfeiffer AFH, et al. The health benefits of dietary fibre National Institutes of Health. Health benefits of dietary fibers vary MedlinePlus. Dietary fiber Crudele L, Piccinin E, Moschetta A. Visceral adiposity and cancer: Role in pathogenesis and prognosis Jennings A, MacGregor A, Spector T, et al. Higher dietary flavonoid intakes are associated with lower objectively measured body composition in women: Evidence from discordant monozygotic twins National Institutes of Health: Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin C - health professional fact sheet Miles EA, Calder PC. Effects of citrus fruit juices and their bioactive components on inflammation and immunity: A narrative review MedlinePlus. Iron in diet Chang SC, Cassidy A, Willett WC, et al. Dietary flavonoid intake and risk of incident depression in midlife and older women Amini MR, Sheikhhossein F, Bazshahi E, et al. Orange juice intake and lipid profile: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials National Institutes of Health. Benefits from lower cholesterol and blood pressure targets Sir Elkhatim KA, Elagib RAA, Hassan AB. Content of phenolic compounds and vitamin C and antioxidant activity in wasted parts of Sudanese citrus fruits Koolaji N, Shammugasamy B, Schindeler A, et al. Citrus peel flavonoids as potential cancer prevention agents Kean RJ, Lamport DJ, Dodd GF, et al. Chronic consumption of flavanone-rich orange juice is associated with cognitive benefits: An 8-wk, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in healthy older adults Lamport DJ, Pal D, Macready AL, et al. The effects of flavanone-rich citrus juice on cognitive function and cerebral blood flow: An acute, randomised, placebo-controlled cross-over trial in healthy, young adults National Institutes of Health: Office of Dietary Supplements. Potassium - consumer National Institutes of Health: Office of Dietary Supplements. Folate - consumer Adubofuor J, Akyereko YG, Batsa V, et al. Nutrient composition and physical properties of two orange seed varieties National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Eating diet, & nutrition for GER & GERD Inomata N, Miyakawa M, Ikeda N, Oda K, Aihara M. Identification of gibberellin-regulated protein as a new allergen in orange allergy Petric Z, Žuntar I, Putnik P, Bursać Kovačević D. Food–drug interactions with fruit juices Nguyen M, Jarvis SE, Chiavaroli L, et al. Consumption of 100% fruit juice and body weight in children and adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks California citrus growers are reflecting on a positive citrus season "No significant weather issues were reported," says Daniel Rodriguez with Heavenly Citrus the rain had a positive impact on the fruit and didn't cause any damage." Navel orangesIt's the first week of May and supplies on Navel oranges are currently extremely low we are projecting near-zero availability as the final harvest of the season will start this Friday May 2." Limited supplies are expected to last until the last week of May or the first week of June Valencia orangesSupply of Valencia oranges on the other hand is abundant It may take about four more weeks for sugar to be at optimal levels," Rodriguez shared The majority of sizes range between 113s and 168s which is the result of a decline in Navel orange supplies as well as limited availability for sweet and large size Valencia oranges This is causing prices to steadily increase and show a significant upward trend MandarinsAvailability of mandarins is even better "Experienced growers who add the right nutrients will be able to hold until the end of May Less experienced growers on the other hand will see their fruit decline in the coming weeks," Rodriguez commented The decline in quality and availability results in mandarin prices gradually increasing in the weeks leading up to the season's conclusion LemonsThe update on lemons is less optimistic While most fruit is available in District 1 and pricing has been depressed since early December "Low prices are the result of competition from imports Lower quality in combination with low prices is resulting in suppliers selling at or below breakeven prices many growers are in a situation where they are opting to leave fruit on the tree to fall on its own or send it to juicing facilities." Competition from other regionsWhile this time of year is a favorable window for California with relatively low competition from other citrus growing regions in the world the situation was different earlier in the year impacting the sales of lemons and mandarins by saturating port markets." Heavenly Citrus strictly grows citrus in California with distribution in the domestic market Summer campaignRodriguez is thrilled to announce Heavenly's summer citrus campaign "Unleash your Creativity," which has been designed to inspire consumers enhancing their eating experiences with the vibrant flavors of late summer harvest we are proudly supplying premium late summer Navel oranges and lemons and are excited to showcase their versatility we will continue to offer our high-quality mandarins through the end of May." Through this campaign the company aims to unlock a burst of creativity through branding and storytelling on its online platforms and packages "We believe citrus can be a catalyst for culinary exploration and joyful moments throughout the summer months." Heavenly Citrus is strategically integrating advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) across its operations spanning from optimizing farming practices to enhancing marketing strategies we are committed to making a significant difference and positioning ourselves at the forefront of the citrus branding space as we embrace a new era of innovation and consumer engagement We are confident that our dedication to quality and our forward-thinking approach will allow us to connect with consumers in new and meaningful ways." For more information:Daniel RodriguezHeavenly CitrusTel: (+1) 661-474-7488[email protected] FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 FreshPlaza.com Thanks for visiting The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here Recently I’ve been thinking about dishes I haven’t had since I was a child a fascinating concoction fitting the broad definition of a salad as ingredients held together with a binding Like many salads Midwesterners claim as their own Amy Thielen tackles that mystery in “The New Midwestern Table,” noting its typical location at potlucks “toward the end of the line,” separated from the other salads but “decidedly before the floodplain of sweet bars and coffee.” Two similar recipes for glorified rice appear in my grandmother’s copy of “The Joy of Sharing,” the church cookbook published by the Oak Valley American Lutheran Church Women in 1985 It seems this debate has been going on since at least the 1980s; one recipe appears in the desserts chapter The second adjective in the title “Glorified Orange Rice” refers to this salad’s mandarin oranges and flavor of gelatin Only a bit of prep work is required — cooking the rice and whipping the cream Some recipes specify pre-made frozen whipped topping Even though I imagine I could use a pre-made substitute “Glorified Orange Rice” is simple to mix together and adding the rice and marshmallows (I used mini marshmallows it had “started to thicken,” as the recipe indicated Glorified rice is an upper Midwestern delicacy Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras’s “Gastro Obscura” calls it a Minnesotan retro icon one still available in the region’s deli cases Lutherans claim it — it’s actually in the title of Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson’s “They Glorified Mary…We Glorified Rice: A Catholic—Lutheran Lexicon.” There’s no denying it’s popular with the Lutheran set undoubtedly because of the many Lutheran Scandinavian immigrants who arrived on the Northern Plains in the 19th century including one for leftover rice pudding mixed with whipped cream They arrived at an opportune time — the heyday of American salads As Laura Shapiro notes in the aptly named “Perfection Salad: Women and Cooking at the Turn of the Century,” professional and home cooks created salads out of almost every type of food leading to the expansive definition we still use today Carrie Young describes the glory days of glorified rice in western North Dakota in her memoir “Prairie Cooks: Glorified Rice and Other Reminiscences,” explaining that its economy and elegance made it a favorite of her mother and neighbors during the lean 1930s and a small amount became abundant when cooked while the women of Young’s community adored it the men abhorred “what they considered nothing but out-and-out mush,” insubstantial fluff unable to provide the fuel of “manly” dishes like meat and potatoes reflecting the image of frailty attributed to the women who made them.” And Jello marketed in its early promotional materials as “light” and low in calories yet lush and creamy with gooey marshmallow and whipped cream The combination of textures in each bite is remarkable as the flaky coconut and chewy rice also add a satisfying Glorified rice truly capitalizes on the advantages of grains I think it’s ready to be rebranded as a sweet grain bowl Anyone who has enjoyed a Greek salad full of tomatoes onions and cucumbers and topped with a slab of salty feta cheese knows that And comic Leanne Morgan reminds us in her new comedy special that “light” gelatins can be chock full of sugar LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio The Lestonnac Free Clinic’s new surgery center will rely on a network of surgeons donating their time to perform low-risk vital procedures for patients who cannot afford care Those procedures include hernia repairs to allow patients to get back to work cataract surgeries to restore sight and colonoscopies to screen for cancer The clinic has been providing free basic health dental and vision care to thousands from its office in Orange for decades The new 4,000-square-foot Lestonnac Surgery Center celebrated its grand opening Thursday and expects to start performing its first free surgeries in mid-June “The dream of this surgery center came up years ago because too many patients were underinsured or uninsured,” said Ed Gerber The clinic expects to provide about 700 free surgeries in the new center’s first year The nonprofit Lestonnac Free Clinic has been offering patients limited free surgeries since 2019 The clinic’s volunteer surgeons currently perform about 13 operations at partner hospitals each month the clinic will be able to perform more than 60 surgeries per month — tripling the total number of free surgeries the clinic provides to uninsured patients “There is a growing number of people who need surgery but they don't have the resources or access,” said Dr an acute care surgeon at UCI Medical Center and Lestonnac’s surgical director “The new surgery center will change lives by allowing us volunteer surgeons to reach more patients said a medical center offering basic surgeries for low-income patients is badly needed in the area his clinic serves so there's nowhere we can send a patient that needs help,” Gerber said that we make a difference and fill that hole that is not being filled.” Gerber said insurance doesn’t always cover the surgeries people need which insurance companies consider cosmetic “ The insurance company may not pay for it unless it's life threatening,” Geber said A big part of the clinic’s work will also include doing free diagnostic tests for throat and colon cancer it's $3,000 or $4,000 to get one of those,” Gerber said “But if you don't get it and you have cancer we can't let individuals slip through the safety net.” The clinic is currently staffed by more than 300 licensed medical professionals from Southern California hospitals That includes more than 20 licensed surgeons and 14 anesthesiologists “That's taken us years and years of effort to try to get the doctors to donate their time to be able to do this,” said Gerber “It's a herculean effort to make this happen but I think in the end it's absolutely worth the effort.” Lestonnac is also supported by local and national grants Before their $4 million donation for a surgery center philanthropists Bill and Nancy Thompson of the Thompson Foundation had been long-time donors “We have been proud supporters of Lestonnac Free Clinic for years and knew that this investment would help further address critical gaps in our healthcare system,” foundation CEO Bill Thompson said in a statement The surgery center was also funded with large donations from the Sarva Mangal Family Trust the Patel Family Charitable Fund and the Association of Los Angeles Physicians of Indian Origin While Lestonnac’s two new state-of-the-art operating rooms are now fully operational the clinic is still waiting on credentialing They expect to begin performing surgeries in mid-June The clinic has a waiting list of at least 3,000 existing patients who need free surgeries It also works with other clinics who can refer uninsured or underinsured patients The Lestonnac team hopes the new center can be a national model for other free clinics looking to provide care to people who can’t afford it “ This is a response to what's been going on for a long time,” Gerber said It's not a response by any Democratic or Republican party It's a response by individuals recognizing the problem and creating a solution.” MEASLES - Measles is a vaccine-preventable disease The best way to protect against it is through the measles kent.donahue@flhealth.gov — The Florida Department of Health in Orange County (DOH-Orange) cautions the public of the presence of blue-green algae in Little Wekiva River (Riverside Acres Park) on April 28 Blue-green algae have the potential to produce toxins Since environmental conditions can change at any time even if presence of toxins has not yet been confirmed Residents and visitors are advised to take the following precautions: Blue-green algae are a type of bacteria that is common in Florida’s freshwater environments A bloom occurs when rapid growth of algae leads to an accumulation of individual cells that discolor water and often produce floating mats that emit unpleasant odors Blue-green algae blooms can also appear as scum, foam, or paint on the surface of the water in various colors. To learn more about the appearance of algae blooms, visit Protecting Florida Together Some environmental factors that contribute to blue-green algae blooms are sunny days Blooms can appear year-round but are more frequent in summer and fall Many types of blue-green algae can produce toxins Blue-green algae may not always be visible as a bloom which can be harmful to humans and pets as well as ecosystems the elderly and those who are immunocompromised) may still be at risk even at low concentrations and should avoid any exposure For additional information on potential health effects of algae blooms, visit the Florida Department of Health's harmful algae blooms webpage Where Can I Find Current Water Status Information Where Can I Report Issues Related to Algae Blooms If you have other health questions or concerns about blue-green algae The Department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state – The Orange Park Police Department is asking for the public’s help in locating 16-year-old Tayshawn Dennis who was reported missing on the morning of May 2 Police shared in a social media post, that Dennis was last seen shortly before 6:30 a.m. leaving his residence at the St. John’s Pointe Apartments, located at 141 Old Orange Park Road. He is described as approximately 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing around 210 pounds. At the time he was last seen, he was wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt featuring a graphic of an African American face with a purple bandanna. Authorities believe Dennis may be with his 15-year-old girlfriend, Clairissa Persinger, who is also missing from the Clay County area. Anyone with information on their whereabouts is urged to contact the Orange Park Police Department at (904) 264-5555. Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX - All rights reserved. Click here to take a moment and familiarize yourself with our Community Guidelines TV Listings Email Newsletters RSS Feeds Contests and Rules Contact Us Careers at WJXT / WCWJ Closed Captioning / Audio Description WJXT Public File WJXT EEO Report WCWJ Public File WCWJ EEO Report Terms of Use Privacy Policy Do Not Sell My Info FCC Applications Copyright © 2025 News4JAX.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group Jennifer Chesak is a medical journalist for several national publications She earned her Master of Science in journalism from Northwestern’s Medill She’s also the managing editor for the literary magazine Jennifer lives in Nashville but hails from North Dakota and when she’s not writing or sticking her nose in a book she’s usually running trails or futzing with her garden Learn more at her website http://www.jenniferchesak.com/ particularly fascinated by the mysterious workings of the human brain in English at the University of Warwick in the U.K and spreads her infectious love of invertebrates You can follow Maria on Twitter Jillian Kubala is a registered dietitian based in Westhampton Jillian holds a master’s degree in nutrition from Stony Brook University School of Medicine as well as an undergraduate degree in nutrition science She runs a private practice based on the east end of Long Island where she helps her clients achieve optimal wellness through nutrition and lifestyle changes In regards to diet, previous research even shows that eating healthy foods may help lower a person’s risk for depression Now a study recently published in the journal Microbiome has identified oranges as another food that may help decrease depression risk For this study, researchers analyzed data from more than 32,000 middle-aged women who had participated in the Nurses’ Health Study II questionnaires were periodically sent to study participants to ask them about their diet and depression status Past research shows that Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is beneficial to the body as it helps lower inflammation and support the immune system prausnitzii in the microbiome of study participants with depression “And the effect seems to be specific to citrus When we look at people’s total fruit or vegetable consumption or at other individual fruits such as apples or bananas we don’t see any relationship between intake and risk of depression,” he further explained Scientists further validated their findings in men with participants of the Men’s Lifestyle Validation Study prausnitzii in the microbiomes correlated to depression “These neurotransmitters regulate how food passes through the digestive tract, but they can also travel to the brain, where they elevate mood,” Mehta said in an interview with The Harvard Gazette Medical News Today had the opportunity to speak with Gary Small, MD chair of psychiatry at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey and author of more than a dozen books on behavioral health “Recent research has shown intriguing links between the gut microbiome “Consumption of citrus fruits can stimulate growth in the human gut of certain types of bacteria that influence production of brain neurotransmitters that can elevate mood This study offers a possible explanation for how eating oranges might lower future risk for depression and certainly supports the old adage: ‘You are what you eat’.” “Clinical depression that disrupts a person’s functioning afflicts an estimated 15% of people at some point in their life,” he continued. “Psychotherapy, antidepressant medications and other treatments are effective but costly and not accessible to everyone.“ “Prevention strategies that work can have an important impact on public health since untreated or inadequately treated depression increases a person’s risk of death not just from suicide but from medical comorbidities,” explained Small “People who are more likely to consume fresh fruits are also more likely to exercise regularly and engage in other healthy lifestyle habits that will lower depression risk,” he added controlled clinical trial would be needed to confirm a causal relationship between citrus consumption and depression risk.” MNT also spoke with Rudolph Bedford, MD a board-certified gastroenterologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica “We certainly know that the microbiome does regulate many aspects of the body so it wasn’t surprising whatsoever that they would find particular absence of various bacteria or excessive bacteria that might regulate brain function and depression and other psycho-neurologic issues,” Bedford He explained why it is important for researchers to continue to find new ways of preventing depression “Obviously it prevents us from having to use various medications in order to treat or prevent these things such as depression and I’m sure that there are also keys to dealing with anxiety and other psychological behaviors,” Bedford said “It’s just important that we are not having to utilize medications for treatment.” Bedford said he would like to see a larger patient population with much more refinement in terms of bacterial species and the genetic makeup of the individuals that seem to respond to this type of natural therapy or intervention “So there’s a lot more to be done,” he added everything having to do with the microbiome and there’s just so much left to be done in that regard.” — Fort Pierce police are investigating a shooting near South 25th Street and Orange Avenue Police say one person was transported to a local hospital They say this was an isolated incident and there is no threat to the public The state’s citrus industry is expecting one of its lowest production levels on record after recent hurricanes But promising new science to address a devastating tree disease is giving growers hope Oranges are a core part of Florida's identity — just drive around the state to see the fruit prominently displayed on locals' license plates But after years of disease and natural disasters made worse by climate change Florida's iconic orange groves could be a thing of the past growers have struggled to address longstanding challenges from a devastating disease known as citrus greening devastated millions of acres of groves and reduced Florida's total citrus production by 74% Natural disasters have only compounded the problem in recent years raising the stakes for finding a cure to citrus greening Hurricane Milton in October dealt an incredible blow pummeling 70% of Florida's most productive acreage just as orange growers were recovering from previous hurricanes and disease threats “When you think about the battle we've had with greening and then the impact of a storm that takes multiple years in a tree crop to recover from it is just hard for these growers to get their bearings," said Matt Joyner an industry trade group representing the state's citrus growers Following Milton, Florida's orange crop is now expected to be the lowest in a century, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Dec. 10. That's a massive reversal from earlier in 2024 when the department was expecting production to jump 11% over the previous year Even as growers race to save what's left of Florida's orange groves many remain optimistic that the state's citrus industry can still recover – especially if researchers can find a solution to combat citrus greening While growers have been without a cure for years promising research made over the past two years could potentially change the tides “Two decades of battling citrus greening has taken its toll on our industry,” Joyner said there's been multiple breakthroughs in the extensive research.” In the United States, citrus greening was discovered in Florida in 2005 and has since spread to Georgia which Joyner calls “the most difficult disease known to citrus worldwide,” is spread by a tiny insect called the Asian citrus psyllid trees slowly die over the course of two to three years While affected trees can still produce some fruit yields are significantly decreased and the citrus produced is often discolored In 2023, scientists at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service shared a potential remedy for the disease by augmenting a tree’s natural immune system Gene-edited plants that produce receptor proteins can recognize pathogens and then activate a tree’s own immune response Commons tactics have been treating orange trees with antibiotics and protecting young trees with mesh bags This only prolongs their lifespan by a few rather than getting rid of the problems the USDA has invested more than $400 million to address citrus greening including more than $57 million through the Citrus Disease Research and Extension Program since 2014 to come to long-term solutions While the potential remedy from USDA is still being tested the department said gene-edited trees could give growers a chance to combat citrus greening without pesticides or removing affected trees from orchards In the meantime, many growers and researchers have focused efforts on plant growth regulators as a way to promote tree health and prevent production losses. Chemicals such as gibberellic acid and 2 4-D have been found to support healthier trees with reduced fruit drop and increased production Initial research with growers showed that trees treated with plant growth regulators retained more fruit Treated trees were also more likely to retain fruit in freezing temperatures opening more possibilities for citrus resilience in the face of its varied challenges “We have some tools that we had not had prior to now that have been deployed commercially," Joyner said "A lot of the indicators that we've been looking for in the fight against greening have really been showing some positive signs.” Emerging solutions to citrus greening is a small ray of optimism in a dire situation for growers that's been made worse by increasingly powerful hurricanes and other weather events Milton hit just as growers were beginning to get back on their feet from Hurricane Ian in 2022 which tore fruit from trees and flooded orchards Growers can only do so much to prevent damage from natural disasters making it all the more important to find a solution to citrus greening and also make trees more climate resilient “When a hurricane is barreling towards the state and you have almost 300,000 acres of tree crop we can't really shield them from it,” Joyner said continued efforts to combat greening and restore tree health could put the trees in better stead if they are hit with another storm has been told to "get out of Florida," where some say it's too late to save the industry "Florida is kind of lost," Coll Aráoz said "Most people in the industry just tell you that." Coll Aráoz’s research focuses on push-pull pest management a strategy that uses stimuli to repel pests from crops and attract them to other areas where they can then be controlled The team has studied using curry plants as a "trap crop" to lure greening-causing psyllids combined with plant hormones that drive back the pests The method has produced a 91% decrease in the insect vector presence and a whopping 100% decrease in the psyllid egg laying Coll Aráoz said funding to proliferate her solution has been limited It's unclear whether she will be able to continue her promising experiments into 2025 But as growers reach their wits' end with the endless hits to production more are willing to take part in experiments like Coll Aráoz's That could help raise the demand for new research and accelerate efforts to find a solution before the next big storm or weather event hits “It's a difficult thing to see this much fruit hit the ground just as we're seeing really some bright signs of recovery,” Joyner said “But we're still optimistic … we do have tools now for this industry to continue to recover and rebuild.” Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts fertilizer and pesticides are expected to decline farmers are forecast to spend more on labor and taxes While prices in July were sharply lower compared to a year ago for most commodities meat and dairy producers benefited from lower supply Subscribe to the Agriculture Dive free daily newsletter Subscribe to Agriculture Dive for top news The free newsletter covering the top industry headlines Stacey Leasca is an award-winning journalist with nearly two decades of newsroom experience She is also the co-founder of Be a Travel Writer an online course for the next generation of travel journalists Oranges and other citrus fruits may fend off depressionEveryday Health: Lindsay Malone registered dietitian and an instructor in the Department of Nutrition at the School of Medicine weighed in on a study that indicated oranges could help prevent depression Malone said the study does not account for other lifestyle factors that may benefit orange eaters’ mental health “People who eat oranges may be more likely to consume other healthy foods and perhaps participate in other healthy lifestyle behaviors and practicing stress management,” she said school of medicine Interested in participating in a research study Looking for an upcoming event in your department Subscribe to The Daily Items that appear in the Community Postings section are submitted by visitors Posts are reviewed to ensure they are appropriate for our audience but typically are not edited by University Marketing and Communications Case Western Reserve University is committed to academic freedom and promoting diversity of thought The views of those who speak on our campus do not necessarily reflect the views of the university administration or any other segment of the university community the average consumer drinks approximately 9 liters of orange juice annually the per capita consumption is about 0.4 liters 53% of the orange juice consumed in the U.S primarily cultivated in São Paulo and Minas Gerais is experiencing changes due to a 10% import tariff imposed by the U.S. potentially disadvantaging Brazilian exports Mexican orange juice benefits from zero tariffs under the USMCA trade agreement while Brazilian juice remains subject to the standard MFN rate Brazil currently accounts for 64.7% of U.S 80% of Brazil's orange crop is dedicated to juice exports contributing to three-quarters of global exports represents 35.4% of Brazil's export revenue A strategic alternative for Brazilian exporters could involve "re-exportation" through Mexico up to 60% of a juice blend can originate from third countries potentially allowing Brazilian juice to qualify Source: DatamarNews Frontpage photo: © Nsilcock | Dreamstime Hurricanes and an untreatable tree disease have left a once fruitful citrus industry with little to produce this year For decades it was the signature taste of Florida: orange juice from the state’s plentiful groves advertised to a thirsty nation as “your daily dose of sunshine” But now another hyperactive hurricane season paired with the dogged persistence of an untreatable tree disease known as greening has left a once-thriving citrus industry on life support Only 12m boxes of oranges will have been produced in Florida by the end of this year, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts show the lowest single-year yield in almost a century and less than 5% of the 2004 harvest of 242m boxes It is also dwarfed by the 378m boxes expected to be produced this year in Brazil the world’s largest grower and exporter of oranges Each box weighs 90lb (41kg) and contains an average 300 pieces of fruit depending on variety As a result, Florida-produced juice that used to be a staple of the breakfast table has become an expensive luxury for many families and some growers who have struggled to keep up with rising production costs and ever-shrinking returns have sold their land for development and left the industry for good Despite promising research, scientists still have no solution for citrus greening, the insect-borne disease known as Huanglongbing (HLB), 20 years after it began spreading through Florida’s agricultural heartland, causing blotchy leaves and misshapen and bitter-tasting fruit. Read moreGreening has reduced citrus production in Florida by 75% during that time And a proportion of groves that did escape have been ripped apart by more frequent and destructive hurricanes the state’s largest trade group representing 2,000 growers about 70% of the most productive groves were ravaged by Hurricane Milton in October “It’s been really painful, a real double whammy,” said Wayne Simmons, a fifth-generation Floridian and citrus farmer who owns the LaBelle Fruit Company and about 250 acres (100 hectares) of groves Simmons was president of the Gulf Citrus Growers Association a group of farmers across five counties in the south-west of the state looking out for each other’s interests after its membership dwindled to fewer than 20 “Things down here started going downhill after Hurricane Irma in 2017 we lost acreage and we lost membership,” Simmons said “And certainly you can’t have an association if you don’t have any acreage or members Throw in a couple more hurricanes and greening had simply had enough and sold their land for development “They’re planting houses and solar panels now,” he said but that land will never go back to agriculture Some of it is being fenced and cattle put in You’re not going to make money off of the cattle business.” Malcolm Manners, professor in citrus science at Florida Southern College, noted that greening had also become an issue in other major citrus-producing countries that have been making up the Florida shortfall, especially Brazil, where 38% of trees in its citrus belt showed symptoms of HLB last year, according to the growers’ association Fundecitrus He said that added to the urgency for researchers to find a cure or a workaround “There’s been some work done with CRISPR technology where they’re modifying genes that are already there but those trees are not yet on the market,” he said it takes probably two or three years for the nursery industry to multiply it up then it goes into the groves and takes another three or four years to start harvesting “You’re talking a decade from getting such a tree before you really modify the orange juice market worldwide more and more people just keep going out of business.” Despite what he calls a “frustrating” season for growers the chief executive of Florida Citrus Mutual said he was confident of better times ahead to deal with citrus greening that we had not had prior a lot of the metrics that we’ve been looking for as we’ve been looking for solutions “So there’s some optimism that if we could just have a few good seasons without Mother Nature taking an impact we’d really have a chance to start to turn the corner and rebuild.” Joyner said that his members were committed to regrowing their industry “in the perfect environment for what we do” has seen the citrus groves and smelled the orange blossoms “To get the gift fruit when you’re up north from a Florida producer is really special and these growers take great pride… you’ve got fifth- seventh-generation growers that all they want to do is grow oranges.” said he and several others who made up the Gulf coast group plan to stay in the business “I don’t know if I’m stubborn or hard-headed but I still have the land and I’m hanging in there I don’t want to do anything else,” he said “We tried peaches and we tried blueberries but nothing grows in Florida like an orange tree it’s disappointing and it will never be like it was in its heyday but Florida will always have some citrus.” Juice up a winter salad with bright color and striking flavor By Jenny EverettRecipe by Rob McDaniel February/March 2025 “It’s more than a flavor experience; it’s also visual At first you don’t know what to expect because of the bright red color but it’s less acidic and a little sweeter.” This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Most Southern-grown blood oranges hail from Texas and Florida They’re tastiest and most vibrant in the winter months when cooler temps activate the fruit’s anthocyanin compounds which deepen the color while sweetening the flavor “A good blood orange should have a floral aroma,” McDaniel says But blood oranges also shine in savory dishes especially when you reduce the juice to concentrate the flavor for marinades McDaniel particularly loves to pair them with endive and thinly sliced beets for a beautiful winter salad that incorporates both orange segments and a juice-infused vinaigrette (see recipe) “I really like the color contrast between the oranges and the beets,” he says “And the sweet flavor from the blood oranges contrasts well with the bitterness from the endive and the earthy flavor of the beets.” It just might be the perfect dish to serve friends who deserve the royal treatment 1 cup blood orange juice (from 3 or 4 blood oranges) Banyuls vinegar (or other red wine vinegar or champagne vinegar) 3 golf-ball-sized beets (McDaniel recommends a mix of golden peel and pith removed and cut into segments Make the vinaigrette: Add juice to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over high heat Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking put juice in a medium bowl and mix with all other ingredients except oil Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes Make the salad: Drizzle endive spears with vinaigrette (go easy; too much will cause wilting) placing the spears so they don’t stack inside one another Tuck the blood oranges and beets into the voids created by layering the endive and finish with additional vinaigrette and salt and pepper to taste Jenny Everett is a contributing editor at Garden & Gun, and has been writing the What’s in Season column since 2009. She has also served as an editor at Women’s Health, espnW, and Popular Science, among other publications. She lives in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, with her husband, David; children, Sam and Rosie; and a small petting zoo including a labrador retriever, two guinea pigs, a tortoise, and a fish. This high-low appetizer will be the star of your next gathering Fried in a crunchy batter, delicate summer squash buds are a springtime treasure Green garlic and fresh herbs star in a refreshing family-style dish The future of conservation in the South just got a little bit brighter—and not just for salamanders The mounds may look insignificant, but they’re the craftsmanship of local crustaceans called lawn lobsters The drawls are receiving a lot of flak across the internet, but a North Carolina linguist argues they’re actually pretty accurate an orange a day might do more than boost vitamin C levels It may also help lower the risk of depression Scientists at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital have identified a possible link between regular citrus consumption and a reduced risk of depression. According to their study published in November in the journal Microbiome participants who reported eating more than one serving of citrus per day had a 22% lower risk of developing depression compared to those who consumed less than one serving per week The researchers’ theorize this effect could be thanks to citrus’s ability to promote the growth of F a type of gut microbe that may be linked to feel-good chemicals like serotonin and dopamine prausnitzii in people who reported eating more citrus There’s growing interest in better understanding how food affects mood, and how changes in the gut microbiome — the mix of microbes living in our digestive tracts — influence mental health. The study authors say their work makes a compelling case for taking a closer look at how changes in diet and the gut microbiome could play a role in preventing depression, which affects approximately 280 million people worldwide I spoke with Dr. Raaj Mehta, a gastroenterologist and lead researcher of the study, about his team’s exploration into the gut-brain connection. He told me after a 2016 paper suggested a potential link between citrus and depression, the team decided to take a deeper dive. Here are some highlights from our conversation, edited for length and clarity: Were you surprised by these findings? As a gastroenterologist, when you’re evaluating patients how often is mental health brought up? How is F. prausnitzii linked with citrus? How far does this connection go? What kind of citrus is most effective? Can I drink citrus juice or or even have a citrus tablet? "Our study primarily focused on oranges and grapefruits, fruit and juice both. But there's no reason that it couldn't apply to other types of citrus. Your question about a tablet with a citrus extract, I think is interesting. We had some exploratory analyses that suggested there might be specific components in citrus that could potentially explain our results. But in the end, I think you probably would need to do some more research to identify exactly what should go in a tablet." Glasses of orange juice, grapefruit juice, multivitamin juice and fruits on wood. (Getty Images)Can you compare the effect of common depression medications known as SSRI’s to the effect of daily citrus intake? "It’s tough to compare since we were focused on risk reduction for future depression while SSRIs treat depression that’s already happening. The next step could be a diet-plus-medication study, where a dietary component complements standard treatment. We're starting to see this in other fields, and I think it would be an interesting direction." What are the challenges in conducting studies like yours, especially when looking at diet and mental health? "It’s hard to get funding for something like that. If you're a drug company, you can't really put a price tag on an orange and sell it with your SSRI. Similarly, it's a difficult funding environment right now for investigators. Also, dietary studies are especially difficult. You can’t just have people eat oranges three meals a day for six months. You have to account for other foods they eat, which adds complexity." How important is the gut microbiome to mental health? Is it overlooked by current treatments? "The microbiome is the forgotten organ inside of our guts. It can modulate some of the things we eat, good or bad, and affect how we feel. One thing that's really interesting about the microbiome, as an organ inside of us, is that it is modifiable. So unlike your genes, which are fixed more or less, the genes in bacteria that do all sorts of things can be changed. Hopefully people will start to exploit in the next two to three decades. "It’s not as simple as saying 'take this probiotic and feel better,' we don’t have the evidence yet. But if more people talk about it, someone might do a major study and unlock new knowledge." How long before researchers can confidently say citrus lowers depression risk? "It’s probably too early to say 'eat an orange a day to keep the blues away,' but at the same time it’s not a dangerous message to send. Eating healthy can improve mood and there’s tons of evidence that fruits and vegetables can reduce risk of cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, etc. I’d say, if you don’t have adverse reactions or aversions to citrus, might as well try occasionally in moderation." Correction: An earlier version of this story gave inaccurate figures for the number of servings that lowered study participants' risk of depression, as well as by how much. Participants who consumed one serving of citrus daily were found to have a 22% lower risk of depression compared to those who ate less than a serving a week. The story also misspelled Mehta's first name. The post has been updated. We regret the errors. This article was originally published on March 25, 2025. Rachell Sanchez-Smith WBUR Newsroom FellowRachell Sanchez-Smith is a WBUR newsroom fellow Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInMONROE (KNOE) - If you’re looking for a fruit that is low in calories and high in vitamins blood oranges may be the right choice for you Nutritionist Jen Avis joined Good Morning ArkLaMiss to talk about the health benefits of the popular citrus fruit “It adds additional antioxidants which are good for the immune system They help your body against free radicals which damages are body and predisposes us to diseases,” said Avis blood oranges are high in minerals and vitamin C If you’re looking for a creative way to add blood oranges to your diet try Avis' blood orange vinaigrette recipe: honey and blood orange juice in a container A classic is about to be reborn on stage in a bold and visually stunning new theatrical production The University of Louisville Department of Theatre Arts is thrilled to announce an anime-inspired adaptation of Carlo Gozzi’s The Love of Three Oranges Gozzi’s The Love of Three Oranges is a whimsical commedia dell'arte play that follows a cursed on a magical adventure to find love in the most unexpected of places —inside three magical oranges making it a perfect candidate for a reimagined stage production infused with anime aesthetics and dynamic theatricality A Spectacle of Fantasy and Anime-Inspired Performance The upcoming production will transport audiences to a visually stunning world that merges the spirit of 18th-century Italian theater with the vibrant energy of anime stylized movement inspired by anime fight choreography this adaptation will blend traditional theater with modern multimedia elements to create an unforgettable experience this stage production remains true to Gozzi’s original themes while integrating the expressive visual language of anime The production is set to debut in April at the Thrust Theatre with a limited run. Tickets are available now at louisville.edu/theatrearts ● Wednesday April 9th @10am - Student Matinee ● Sunday April 13th @2pm - ASL Interpreted Performance About The University of Louisville Department of Theatre Arts Our mission is to create Art in Action: theatre that is engaged and inclusive Theatre Arts at UofL challenges students to become critical thinkers who take pleasure connecting with local and global communities through live performance Graduates explore the world with the courage and practical skills required of theatre artists—imagination Box-Office/Publicity Contact: Stephan Carpenter sbcarp03@louisville.edu 502-852-6814 louisville.edu/theatrearts Gardiner HallUniversity of LouisvilleLouisville asdean@louisville.edu Contact Dean's staff We dug into the history to learn about the origins of this Christmas tradition The company concluded that “growing citrus is no longer economically viable for us in Florida,” with disease and hurricanes reducing production by 73% Hurricanes and the relentless plant disease citrus greening have shriveled output and pushed growers to reconsider their future in Florida Florida’s orange crop is expected to be the lowest in a century Hurricane Milton presented a major setback in growers' efforts to make progress against the threat of citrus greening Alico has seen citrus production decline approximately 73% over the last 10 years even as the company made significant investments in disease treatments The additional impact of recent hurricanes has led the company "to conclude that growing citrus is no longer economically viable for us in Florida,” Alico President and CEO John Kiernan said in a statement "We’ve explored all available options to restore our citrus operations to profitability but the long term production trend and the cost needed to combat citrus greening disease no longer supports our expectations for a recovery," Kiernan added Alico expects 75% of its land holdings will remain agriculturally focused for "the foreseeable future," according to a statement The company owns roughly 53,370 acres of land in Florida High costs in the citrus industry have pushed many suppliers to rethink their investments, not just in Florida. Limoneira, a California-based producer of avocados and lemons, has sold thousands of acres to pay down debt and the company plans to transform into a marketer and seller of citrus rather than taking on the cost of harvesting Herbicide bans and new application restrictions aimed at protecting farmworkers and the environment have also made it more difficult for farmers to manage crops Print Orange Coast College choral director and conductor Eliza Rubenstein remembers moving to Orange County in the mid-1990s She went to a recital for renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman at Segerstrom Hall putting down $5 for a student ticket to see a childhood hero the woman sort of stopped and looked at me She turned to her husband and she said loudly That’s where the poorly dressed people sit.’ Orange Coast College Choir Director Eliza Rubenstein leads students through a rehearsal of Mozart’s Requiem on Wednesday (Don Leach / Staff Photographer) Rubenstein wants her students to know that iconic pieces like Mozart’s Requiem are for them and places like Carnegie Hall in New York are not out of reach The OCC Chamber Singers will perform Requiem The show will also feature Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No performed by OCC music instructor Teresa de Jong-Pombo Saturday’s performance is a precursor to a show at Carnegie Hall on June 24 where they’ll also perform Requiem with the New York City Chamber Orchestra as part of a four-day trip will be making his third trip to the famed concert hall with OCC The group typically makes the trip every other year and has performed works by Austrian composer Joseph Haydn in the past Orange Coast College choir students including Vincente Dang (Don Leach / Staff Photographer) “It’s so fun having the experience of being on a different stage with all of the choir members that you’ve formed a bond with,” Dang said while still practicing the music at such a prestigious venue is looking forward to her first performance at the venue She was born blind and reads music with braille for the show transcribed by Beth Syverson a faculty member at OCC and Cox’s longtime piano teacher Orange Coast College choir students rehearse Mozart’s Requiem on Wednesday (Don Leach / Staff Photographer) “It’s actually one of the few things that blindness doesn’t affect,” she said “I have to deal with a lot of things in everyday life but I feel like performance is where things are truly equal for me It’s one of the spaces where there’s not a lot of judgment people have been wonderful on the campus in general but it’s kind of nice when blindness isn’t the first thing that people notice when someone’s performing.” Not every member of the OCC Chamber Singers is making the trip to New York but Rubenstein said the group has been doing plenty of fundraising to make sure as many singers can go as possible said she is looking forward to both Saturday’s concert and the trip to the East Coast The group has been locking in on the material since the semester started in February Orange Coast College choir students (Don Leach / Staff Photographer) “This work is just so massively famous,” Romero said “It’s really humbling and amazing to be able to be part of it.” Tickets for Saturday’s show are $10 for students and $15 for the general public, and can be purchased at OCC Tickets Rubenstein promises the tickets are well worth the money adding that the choral department sings all types of music but there’s something powerful about being in the presence of someone like Mozart she called de Jong-Pombo a world-class performer as well as a great teacher of OCC students of all ages and abilities “This is as much great music as you will get for your $15 anywhere in Orange County,” Rubenstein said Orange Coast College Choir Director Eliza Rubenstein leads students through a rehearsal of Mozart’s Requiem on Wednesday. (Don Leach / Staff Photographer) News Costa Mesa Matt Szabo Follow Us Matt Szabo covers the city of Huntington Beach and sports for the Daily Pilot. A Southern California native and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate, he has been working for L.A. Times Community News since 2006 and still loves talking to people about their hopes and dreams. News Subscribe for unlimited access Site Map Metrics details Mandarin orange is a popular fruit in China and known worldwide for its unique flavor and nutritional benefits As consumer demand for fruit quality increases the fine assessment and grading of fruit sweetness—especially through non-destructive testing techniques—are becoming increasingly important in agriculture and commerce a new Attention for Orange (AO) attention mechanism and Multiscale Feature Optimization (MFO) feature extraction module are designed and combined with VGG13 convolutional neural network (CNN) innovatively proposed VGG-MFO-Orange CNN model for accurately classifying mandarin oranges with different sweetness a sample of Linhai mandarin oranges was collected and a sweetness triple classification dataset with 5022 images was formed utilizing image acquisition and sugar detection The proposed model was then trained against six influential classical CNN models: DenseNet121 The experimental results showed that our model achieved an accuracy of 86.8% on the validation set which was significantly better than the other six models It also demonstrated excellent generalization ability and effectiveness in predicting the sweetness of Linhai mandarin oranges our model can provide an efficient means of fruit grading for agricultural production and enhance the competitiveness of agricultural products in the market The development of rapid and efficient quality testing techniques is essential for controlling the quality of mandarin oranges meeting consumer demand for quality fruits and promoting local agricultural economies Although these methods can provide accurate and detailed measurements which limits their practical application in large-scale fruit quality assessment have not yet been applied to Linhai mandarin oranges and the existing models are often not tailored for specific fruit types or environmental conditions this paper aims to explore CNN specifically for predicting the sweetness of Linhai mandarin oranges By collecting samples of Linhai mandarin oranges to construct a dataset that is images and sugar content related this paper aims to propose a new CNN model and detection method that enables accurate achieving the possibilities for large-scale quality assessment of Linhai mandarin oranges The main objectives and contributions of this paper are as follows: Taking the Linhai mandarin orange produced in Linhai City 1,000Linhai mandarin orange were collected in the field to form a dataset with 5,022 images and classified into five categories according to the percentage of sugar concentration The Attention for Orange (AO) attention mechanism model is innovatively proposed to capture the details of orange features Based on the AO attention mechanism module the Multiscale Feature Optimization (MFO) module is innovatively proposed aiming to further enhance the capability of capturing information and details of oranges from the spatial dimension The proposed AO and MFO modules were applied to the improvement of the VGG13 to obtain the VGG-MFO-Orange network model which resulted in a citrus sweetness prediction accuracy of 86.8% CNNs have fewer parameters compared to traditional neural networks of the same size which results in superior model performance There are three main types of attention mechanisms: channel attention important features are retained in each layer Accurate feature parameter calculation is an important step in deep learning and the attention mechanism can accurately weight the data features to help the model filter out key information from a large amount of data Currently commonly used attention mechanisms are: which optimize feature extraction by dynamically adjusting channel weights using global average pooling and two-layer fully-connected networks thus solving the problem of uneven information weights between channels; a fully connected layer integrates these features to provide output for classification or decision-making tasks VGGNet47 is a convolutional neural network developed by the Visual Geometry Group at the University of Oxford It employs a cascaded network structure by using small 3 × 3 convolutional filters and introducing a pooling layer after every 2 to 3 convolutional layers VGGNet usually consists of 16 or more convolutional such as in the classical VGG16 and VGG19 models advanced deep learning techniques to enhance the prediction of citrus sugar content is integrated The attention mechanism improves feature selection by dynamically adjusting the importance of key features such as the peel’s texture and color Multiscale feature optimization (MFO) captures information at various scales enabling the model to better understand and utilize the diverse features of the citrus peel with its robust feature extraction capabilities and the benefit of transfer learning serves as a strong foundation for these enhancements to create a model for achiving effectively captures and fuses key features to improve prediction accuracy and model performance 1000 Linhai mandarin oranges were randomly sampled from orchards in Xicen Village which is well-known as the main mandarin-producing area in the southeast coastal region of China All the mandarin orange samples were then transported to the visual inspection laboratory of Taizhou College and then all the mandarin oranges were numbered sequentially It should be noted that all data collection for these samples was completed within 24 h to avoid the influence of time variation on the experimental results Image data collection of Linhai mandarin oranges (a) The well-known major production area of mandarin oranges in the southeastern coastal area of China (c) Subset of collected Linhai mandarin orange sample images which served as the basis for the classification of the quality detection of the Linhai mandarin oranges Augmentation of the original Linhai mandarin orange image dataset to further enhance the ability to capture global information the AO module was designed with a AdaptiveAvgPool mechanism that obtained the global average pooling result of the channel dimension and summed it with the output The result was then transposed back to the original shape to sum with the output of the convolution A summary of the attention mechanism equation for the AO module is shown below: Among which ${\text{x}}^{T}$ denotes permute reshape; ${\text{AO}}{}_{gc}( \cdot )$ represents the Conv_block result; ${\text{AO}}{}_{{{\text{ln}}}}( \cdot )$ represents the LR_block result; and ${\text{P}}_{{A{\text{vg\_pool}}}}$ denotes adaptive pooling ${\text{AO}}{}_{{{\text{ln}}}}( \cdot )$ can be expressed as: Multiscale Feature Optimization module The feature calculation in MFO can be expressed as: where G_Conv is the group convolution residual Its Groups take the same value as that of Groups in AO Network structure diagram of the proposed model four MFO modules were integrated into the model These modules act on different layers of feature maps which in turn enhance the extraction capability of recognizing key feature information in order to enrich the classification strategy this study also introduced a new classifier which was combined with the existing FC_old enabling the model to employ both traditional classification methods and cosine similarity-based classification methods This comprehensive design strategy not only fully utilizes the depth and complexity of the VGG architecture but also increases its competitiveness in image classification tasks through the introduced AOs The flow of the model generated in this paper is shown below: The attentively weighted feature maps conv1_AO and the globally averaged representation of the feature map averages are spliced along the channel dimensions to obtain the fused feature map The fused feature maps are then passed to the final convolutional layer whose dimension is reduced from 992 to 512 to obtain the output feature map Merge: Through Eqs. (6) and (7) Merge is operated with the earlier-obtained average and the result is saved as a variable average; that is the result average is spread as a one-dimensional vector and passed to the classifier for prediction to obtain result 1 Through Eqs. (8) and (9) The L2-paradigm normalization is directly performed on the feature map Merge and then the normalized feature vectors are passed to the linear classifier to obtain the classification prediction result 2 Finally, the cross-entropy loss of the computed result 1 with label is computed using Eq. (10) to obtain FC_new. The cross-entropy loss of the computed result 2 with label is computed using Eq. (11) to obtain FC_old: where $L_{CE} ()$ is the cross entropy. The proportion of $FC_{new}$ and $FC_{{{\text{old}}}}$ in the final categorization result is represented by Eq. (12): The model described in this paper was trained and validated in the environment shown in Table 4, and the experimental parameters of the network model were set as shown in Table 5 the expanded Linhai mandarin orange image dataset was divided into a training set and a validation set in a 7:3 ratio To further validate the effectiveness of the proposed method Loss rate curves for each network during the training process. Loss rate curves for each network during the validation process Accuracy curves for each network during validation Confusion matrix of test results where each network achieved the highest accuracy Comparison of final convolutional heat maps of each network Heat map results for each CBR result of the designed network Heat map results for each MFO result of the designed network and F1-score are important metrics for evaluating the performance of a model and are obtained using the equations shown below: The micro-method calculates performance metrics from an overall perspective and F1 scores based on these overall values The macro-method calculates performance metrics from an individual perspective and F1 scores separately for each category and then averages these scores The weighted method calculates performance metrics from a weighted perspective and F1 scores based on the number of samples in each category The results calculated from Eqs. (16–24), shown in Table 6 demonstrate that the proposed model outperformed the other models in all indicators especially in key evaluation indicators such as F1-score and weighted average of this model were 0.8708 which were all higher than those of DenseNet121 the F1-scores of the proposed model in terms of its precision were 0.8791 and 0.8767 for the macro average and weighted average further indicating its stability and accuracy in prediction the model also outperformed in metrics such as recall and F1-score indicating that it has better overall performance in handling different categories of data The results of the model’s number of parameters, final accuracy, and the time taken to train and validate an epoch for each network are shown in Table 7 It can be seen that the proposed model achieved relatively high accuracy with a relatively small number of parameters and its validation time was similar to the other models MobileNet_v2 and ShuffleNet had lower accuracies than the other models despite having a smaller number of parameters and a shorter training time (both 20 s) VGG13 and its strip batch VGG13_bn had accuracies of 0.7876 and 0.8262 respectively; although these accuracies were higher than those of some of the other models their training times were also relatively longer the proposed model performed well in terms of accuracy whereas ResNet50 struck a better balance between accuracy and training time especially outperforming other models in terms of accuracy It converged quickly on training and validation loss especially in the classification of key categories the proposed model possessed excellent feature extraction ability that could effectively capture the edges and key features of fruits demonstrating good learning ability and robustness With the increasing consumer demand for orange quality the detection and grading of orange internal quality is becoming increasingly necessary especially convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have shown significant advantages in solving complex classification problems with the goal of enhancing the learning ability for citrus epidermal features we investigated the migration learning of deep CNNs and propose an improved “VGG-MFO-Orange” CNN model specifically for the non-destructive image recognition and sugar detection of Linhai mandarin orange The specific contributions of this paper are as follows: The dataset consists of two parts: orange appearance photos and orange fruit sugar content The sugar content of the orange is predicted by the visual texture characteristics of the orange; An AO attention mechanism module for extracting the features of orange visual texture is proposed The module divides the input into three sequential parts: the Linear Group module The feature data of orange visual texture is then obtained through a series of operations such as Hadamard product and element-wise addition; An MFO module that divides the input data into left and right parts The data from the left and right parts are operated by roll after which the feature information is extracted through the attention mechanism This is followed by generating the attention mapping with the output of each convolution block and the corresponding attention module to improve prediction accuracy The experimental results show that the model performed well on both of our own image datasets the proposed model will hopefully be deployed on mobile devices for a wider range of non-destructive fruit detection and classification tasks This will help fruit farmers and distributors to optimize fruit grading and sales channels as well as promoting the intelligent development of agricultural production 1000 Linhai mandarin oranges were collected as samples from the same one village which is limited for the vast Linhai mandarin orange production area and the number of samples is not considered to be as a large scale the sample collection area will be expanded the number of samples collected will be greatly increased which will be used to further improve the accuracy of the proposed model and the actual prototype detection device will be made to deploy the proposed model for practice Data is provided within the manuscript or supplementary information files Taizhou agricultural products win national recognition. http://taizhou.chinadaily.com.cn/2020-06/03/c_497419.htm developments and applications of computer vision for external quality inspection of fruits and vegetables: A review Prediction of sugar content of fresh peaches based on LDBN model using NIR spectroscopy soluble solids and firmness of Satsuma mandarin using Vis/NIR-spectroscopy techniques Technology using near infrared spectroscopic and multivariate analysis to determine the soluble solids content of citrus fruit Spectral and image analysis of hyperspectral data for internal and external quality assessment of peach fruit Chromatographic methods coupled to mass spectrometry detection for the determination of phenolic acids in plants and fruits Determination of seventeen sugars and sugar alcohols in fruit juice samples using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry combining response surface methodology design Optimization of the determination of organic acids and sugars in fruit juices by ion-exclusion liquid chromatography Ultra-fast determination of free carotenoids in fruit juices by rapid resolution liquid chromatography (RRLC): Method validation and characterization of Brazilian whole fruit juices High-throughput simultaneous analysis of multiple pesticides in grain Hou, J. et al. 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(IEEE, 2020). https://doi.org/10.1109/CVPR42600.2020.01155 Static hand gesture recognition in sign language based on convolutional neural network with feature extraction method using ORB descriptor and Gabor filter Feature extraction and classification of photovoltaic panels based on convolutional neural network Very deep convolutional networks for large-scale image recognition Download references This research work was supported by the Taizhou Science and Technology Bureau Planning Project Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Cutting Tools Research Institute of Motor and Intelligent Control Technology and W.Y.; All authors have read and viewed the manuscript The authors declare no competing interests Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-96297-9 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science Sponsored by Farm Credit of Central Florida The orange is by far Florida’s most emblematic crop It was the Spanish who first brought oranges to Florida in the 1500s it was Ponce De Leon himself who brought them over. Commercial production in the Sunshine State didn’t begin until nearly 300 years later when the development of rail allowed oranges to be shipped nationwide about 200 million boxes were produced annually. That production has dropped dramatically in the past 20 years as Florida orange growers have faced significant challenges While a number of factors complicate matters for growers none has had as large of an impact as citrus greening. Greening is caused by a bacterial infection transmitted by tiny bugs known as psyllids It causes stunted plant growth and leads to bitter it has been the main culprit of the contraction of the industry in the past 20 years. This represents a value of $161,879,000 for the Florida economy. but the USDA forecast projects 11.5 million boxes Much of this reduction is likely due to the impact of Hurricane Milton While all this may paint a dire picture for the orange industry thanks to new advancements from scientists at UF/IFAS UF/IFAS is aiming to create citrus that is resistant to greening with a genetically edited citrus tree By inserting a gene from a bacterium known as Bacillus thuringiensis the orange tree becomes able to produce a protein that kills psyllid nymphs that feed on the plant the nymphs cannot make it to adulthood to lay eggs While the project is still in its early stages it presents a shining beacon of hope for citrus growers across Florida and the nation at large This is far from the only project working to beat greening Another project seeks to fight greening using an orange tree’s own natural microbiome. The project is a collaboration between scientists at the University of Florida and Texas A&M The scientists are studying the natural antimicrobial compounds of those trees that are least affected by greening The aim of the study is to find compounds that could be sprayed on the plant to treat greening. it’s all hands on deck as industry experts fight to keep Florida’s orange industry alive 33881(863) 248-7537info@centralfloridamediagroup.com Privacy Policy Copyright © 2025 Central Florida Ag News ORANGE COUNTY – A 46-year-old Orlando man who was riding a motorcycle in Orange County on Thursday died after crashing into an SUV that had turned into his path the motorcyclist was traveling north on Orange Avenue as a 2008 Toyota Rav-4 driven by a 32-year-old Orlando man traveled south with both vehicles approaching Sand Lake Road The man driving the SUV attempted to make a left turn in the direct path of the motorcycle which witnesses advised was traveling above the posted speed limit The front of the motorcycle struck the right rear side of the SUV causing the motorcyclist to fall from the bike Troopers said that the motorcyclist was wearing a helmet The man driving the SUV was not injured and remained at the scene Copyright 2025 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved joined the ClickOrlando team in November 2021 TV Listings Email Newsletters RSS Feeds Contests and Rules Contact Us / Follow on Social Media Careers at WKMG Closed Captioning / Audio Description Public File Current EEO Report Terms of Use Privacy Policy FCC Applications EEO Report Disability Assistance Copyright © 2025 ClickOrlando.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group The dates displayed for an article provide information on when various publication milestones were reached at the journal that has published the article activities on preceding journals at which the article was previously under consideration are not shown (for instance submission All content on this site: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V., its licensors, and contributors. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. For all open access content, the relevant licensing terms apply. she's held beauty roles at Harper's Bazaar and Cosmopolitan; her byline has appeared in Esquire and Allure.com.Image by Studio Firma / StocksyMay 03 2025Since skin care supplements proliferated the market several years ago we’ve seen a full spectrum of ingredients to support skin from the inside-out While skin-specific research is lacking for some ingredients for others the claims are more well founded But still: The market can still be a mixed bag of effectiveness and research. The good news is that with the heightened market interest in skin supplements often comes more research. growing research shows that the plant extract shows impressive wrinkle-reducing results.* the ruby-hued citrus fruit that grows along the Mediterranean The fruit’s known for being a more floral and tart version of navel oranges—and that complex flavor profile makes them a popular choice for chefs Who knew supplement formulators and skin care enthusiasts would be added to that list? In the study the participants took 100 mg a day of the extract and researchers checked in on their skin at two time frames: 14 days and 56 days. Shop nowHow can you increase your intake of blood orange extract?I’m going to guess that blood oranges aren’t part of most folk’s daily diet—they’re not mine it’s better to take it via supplements. it’s formulated alongside astaxanthin and phytoceramides. The three ingredients work together to help reduce the appearance of dark spots The skin care supplement space continues to evolve and we’re seeing exciting new ingredients enter the forefront Metrics details An Author Correction to this article was published on 25 March 2025 This article has been updated Sweet orange is cultivated worldwide but suffers from various devastating diseases because of its monogenetic background The elucidation of the origin of a crop facilitates the domestication of new crops that may better cope with new challenges Here we collected and sequenced 226 citrus accessions and assembled telomere-to-telomere phased diploid genomes of sweet orange and sour orange On the basis of a high-resolution haplotype-resolved genome analysis we inferred that sweet orange originated from a sour orange × mandarin cross and confirmed this model using artificial hybridization experiments We identified defense-related metabolites that potently inhibited the growth of multiple industrially important pathogenic bacteria which showed wide segregation in fruit flavor and disease resistance and produced canker-resistant sweet orange by selecting defense-related metabolites Our findings elucidate the origin of sweet orange and de novo domesticated disease-resistant sweet oranges illuminating a strategy for the rapid domestication of perennial crops the citrus industry has neglected the disease-resistance traits available from wild citrus because fruit flavor has been the pre-eminent breeding goal during the past decades Large amounts of bactericide and copper-related chemicals are used annually to control this disease become less efficacious over time and lead to ecological problems We therefore have a critical need for the de novo domestication of canker-resistant cultivars to counteract these problems A fast and promising de novo domestication strategy for breeding new disease-resistant cultivars of citrus involves focusing on specialized metabolites from wild citrus that contribute to disease resistance both models are limited because they rely on only one haplotype genome to infer evolutionary history although sweet orange is highly heterozygous The geographical distribution of sweet oranges The geographical map was generated manually using the freeform shape function of Microsoft PowerPoint software Phenotypic variation among different sweet oranges mandarins and pummelos in the sympatric region The red five-pointed star represents sweet oranges red circles represent mandarins and yellowish green circles represent pummelos The π values were calculated with 1 Mb sliding windows with 500 kb steps for sour oranges The number of genomic statistical windows is 545 Each box represents the median and interquartile range Coefficients of metabolite variation for sour oranges Source data. using synthesized telomeric probes (5′-TTTAGGG-3′)7 attached to FAM) A diagram illustrating the contributions of the mandarin (M) and pummelo (P) derived genome segments to the two haplotypes of sweet orange Source data. the new genome assembly had no gaps along all chromosomes fineSTRUCTURE analysis using copying vectors generated from chromosome painting Each row of the heat map is a recipient copying vector showing the number of fragments shared between the recipient and each individual as a donor (columns) such that block-like patterns are observed on the heat map Blue represents less haplotype sharing and red indicates more haplotype sharing cultivars derived from sweet orange (n = 5) other mandarins (n = 35) and pummelos (n = 169) Hybrids of sour orange refer to the hybrids obtained from a cross between sour orange and Ponkan mandarin The coincidence probability refers to the probability of a genome landscape that matches the genetic relationships between the parents and hybrids Source data. Genomic variations for chromosome 2 in SWO artificial SWO and artificial mandarin (Md) The number of accessions for each variety is indicated Source data. our hybridization experiments support the model that sweet orange was derived from a sour orange × mandarin cross Heat map for the levels of 215 metabolites that accumulate to higher levels in the leaves of Xcc-resistant accessions compared with Xcc-susceptible accessions (P < 0.05): 1 Blue represents low levels and red represents high levels The content of metabolites were transformed by log2 and the normalized output of each row ranges from 0 to 1 Inhibitory effect of disease resistance-related metabolites (100 μg ml−1) on the growth of Xcc Data are presented as mean values ± s.d.; n = 3 independent replicates Disk diffusion assay showing the antibacterial activity of daphnetin and esculetin (50 mg ml−1 dissolved in DMSO) on the growth of 6 species of pathogenic bacteria Kanamycin (25 mg ml−1 dissolved in pure water) and the solvent DMSO were used as positive and negative controls Larger diameters for the inhibition zones around the paper disks indicate more antibacterial activity The inhibition zones are indicated with dashed circles The diameter of the round white filter paper was 6 mm The appearance of fruits from sweet orange and artificial sweet orange Leaves from sweet orange and artificial sweet orange were inoculated with Xcc (108 CFU ml−1) The photographs were taken 12 days after inoculation Source data. We further designed hybridization experiment by using sour orange and Ponkan mandarin as parents and created artificial sweet oranges that are very close to commercial sweet oranges which provides strong evidence for our origin model of sweet orange The existence of all parental species in the same sympatric region in the NYW region of southern China provides more support for our model for the origin of sweet orange These metabolites are promising candidates and should be tested with field experiments that aim to identify green pesticides with antibactericidal activities breeding programs that aim to develop disease-resistant hybrids can use bactericidal metabolites as effective markers for disease-resistant hybrids This study developed a strategy that uses sour orange (a kind of wild citrus) for de novo domestication of sweet oranges By choosing highly heterozygous parents and designing a liquid gene chip with high selection efficiency we obtained diverse sweet oranges with broad variations in their genome sequences This study also provides a proof-of-concept for metabolite selection in perennials A total of 226 citrus cultivars and landraces (99 sour oranges, 13 sweet oranges, 15 mandarins, 43 pummelos, 19 citrus hybrids, 32 hybrids of sour orange and 5 others citrus accessions) were sequenced in this study (Supplementary Table 1) At least 10 µg of genomic DNA from each accession was used to construct a sequencing library Paired-end sequencing libraries with an insert size of approximately 200–500 bp were constructed and sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform We assembled six genomes including: Citrus sinensis ‘Valencia’ Citrus reticulata ‘Ponkan’ and the natural hybrid sweet orange ‘TJH2’ found in southern China PacBio HiFi reads and Nanopore ultralong reads were generated for the haplotype-resolved telomere-to-telomere genomes assemblies of Citrus sinensis ‘Valencia’ and Citrus aurantium ‘ZGSC’ Nanopore ultralong reads were generated for the chromosome-level assemblies of Citrus reticulata ‘Mangshan’ Citrus reticulata ‘Ponkan’ and the natural hybrid sweet orange ‘TJH2’ Another round of gap filling was performed using corrected Nanopore reads generating a sweet orange assembly without gaps The plant telomeric sequences (CCCTAAA) were used to identify telomeres in the assembled genome The next two rounds of polishing were performed using Nextpolish (v.1.4.0) with Illumina reads Citrus reticulata ‘Pokan’ and a natural hybrid sweet orange named ‘TJH2’ found in southern China we generated Hi-C reads to anchor contigs using the 3d-dna pipeline (v180922) the contigs were anchored based on collinearity with the chromosome-level genome of Citrus maxima ‘Wanbai’ was labeled with biotin-16-dUTP (Roche) and was subsequently detected with Cy3-conjugated streptavidin (Sigma) Telomeric probes were synthesized (Sango Biotech) and attached to carboxyfluorescein (FAM) Dual-color FISH was conducted with these two probes The slides were counterstained with 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI Invitrogen) and observed with an Axio imager and an M2 fluorescence microscope (Zeiss) The images were processed and adjusted using ZEN 2 (blue edition) and the Adobe Photoshop 2023 software and a sliding-window approach (1 Mb windows sliding in 500 kb steps) was employed to quantify nucleotide diversity (π) for each pair of citrus populations using the VCFtools software Fully expanded leaves were inoculated with Xcc (108 colony-forming units (CFU) per milliliter) with an inoculating needle (0.5 mm in diameter) Each inoculation spot consisted of seven pricks with the inoculation needle as recommended by previous reports with minor modifications A bacterial suspension was dropped into each inoculation spot The disease lesion area was measured (36 punctures on average) with ImageJ 2.0 Total soluble solids (TSS) and titratable acid (TA) was determined using a PAL-BX/ACID sugar and acid integrated machine The data collection was repeated three times A single fruit weight was determined using an electronic balance with a sensitivity of 0.01 to measure the weight of the fruit The masses of three fruits were quantified for each genotype The fruit shape index is the longitudinal diameter value/transverse diameter value A vernier caliper was used to measure the distance from the top of the fruit to the pedicle as the value for the longitudinal diameter (mm) and the cross-sectional diameter of the fruit was used as the value of the transverse meridian (mm) Three fruits were measured from each fruit tree The freeze-dried leaf and fruit samples were powdered using a mixer mill (MM 400 Retsch) with a zirconia bead for 1.5 min at 30 Hz 100 mg powder was weighed and extracted overnight at 4 °C with 1.0 ml 70% aqueous methanol Following centrifugation at 10,000 g for 10 min the extracts were absorbed (CNWBOND Carbon-GCB SPE Cartridge 0.22 μm pore size; ANPEL) before liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) analysis The sample extracts were analyzed using an LC–ESI–MS/MS system (HPLC The effluent was alternatively connected to an ESI-triple quadrupole-linear ion trap (QTRAP)–MS LIT and triple quadrupole (QQQ) scans were acquired on a triple quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometer (Q TRAP) equipped with an ESI Turbo Ion-Spray interface operating in a positive ion mode and controlled by Analyst 1.6 software (AB Sciex) Orthogonal projections to latent structures–discriminant analysis was applied to identify altered metabolites The coefficient of variation was calculated for each metabolite on the basis of the following formula: δ/μ where δ and μ are the standard deviation and mean of each metabolite in the population Pc and Xoo) were plated on Luria-Bertani (LB) solid medium separately and incubated at 28 °C for 14 h Individual colonies were cultured separately in LB liquid medium at 28 °C on an orbital shaker at 200 rpm for 18 h To test the 16 metabolites for antibacterial activity the Xcc bacterial cells were resuspended in sterile water at a concentration of 106 CFU ml−1 and 0.1 ml of the suspension was added to 5 ml of LB liquid medium containing different metabolites at a concentration of 100 μg ml−1 Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) without metabolites (0 mg ml−1) served as a control All cultures were shaken (200 rpm) at 28 °C in the dark and the OD600 was measured every 6 h until the bacterial culture reached the stationary phase The OD600 values of all the cultures at 36 h were used to calculate the bacteriostasis rate which is expressed as (OD600 of DMSO culture − OD600 of metabolite culture)/OD600 of DMSO culture × 100% melted LB solid medium cooled down to about 45 °C was mixed with different bacteria and spread evenly on Petri dishes in sterile conditions The bacterial suspension concentration of LB solid medium was about 106 CFU ml−1 Filter paper disks (6 mm diameter) were soaked with different metabolites at a concentration of 50 mg ml−1 The impregnated disks were symmetrically placed onto the medium using sterile tweezers Filter paper disks separately soaked with DMSO and 25 mg ml−1 kanamycin were used as negative and positive controls The Petri dishes were incubated at 28 °C for 36 h Antibacterial activity was evaluated by measuring the diameter of the inhibition zone the area around the disks with no bacterial growth A two-tailed Student’s t-test was used to compare the relative differences in gene expression the ratio of TSS to TA and the antimicrobial activity of metabolites between two groups of samples A two-tailed adjusted Fisher’s exact test was used to conduct the Gene Ontology enrichment analysis of the target genes relative to the background All experiments were replicated with at least three biological replicates Further information on research design is available in the Nature Portfolio Reporting Summary linked to this article A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-025-02165-7 Resequencing of 31 wild and cultivated soybean genomes identifies patterns of genetic diversity and selection Genomic analyses provide insights into the history of tomato breeding The effects of artificial selection on the maize genome A route to de novo domestication of wild allotetraploid rice A two‐in‐one breeding strategy boosts rapid utilization of wild species and elite cultivars A potential disease susceptibility gene CsLOB of citrus is targeted by a major virulence effector PthA of Xanthomonas citri subsp Incidence and severity of Asiatic citrus canker on diverse citrus and citrus-related germplasm in a Florida field planting and primary metabolites: the blurred functional trichotomy Identification of the rice genes and metabolites involved in dual resistance against brown planthopper and rice blast fungus A glucosinolate metabolism pathway in living plant cells mediates broad-spectrum antifungal defense The Arabidopsis non-host defence-associated coumarin scopoletin protects soybean from Asian soybean rust A pathogen-responsive gene cluster for highly modified fatty acids in tomato Bayogenin 3-O-cellobioside confers non-cultivar-specific defence against the rice blast fungus Pyricularia oryzae Coumarin and furanocoumarin quantitation in citrus peel via ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS) Metabolic mechanisms of host species against citrus Huanglongbing (greening disease) Natural products and plant disease resistance Genomic insights into citrus domestication and its important agronomic traits The draft genome of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) pummelo and orange genomes reveals complex history of admixture during citrus domestication Somatic variations led to the selection of acidic and acidless orange cultivars Genome of wild mandarin and domestication history of mandarin Lateral organ boundaries 1 is a disease susceptibility gene for citrus bacterial canker disease New insights into the antibacterial activity of hydroxycoumarins against Ralstonia solanacearum effective plant-derived compounds reduce Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum populations and control tobacco bacterial wilt Chinese Citrus Society Chinese Citrus Industry (China Agriculture Press Citrus: The Genus of Citrus (Taylor & Francis Genomics of the origin and evolution of Citrus Localization and characterization of citrus centromeres by combining half-tetrad analysis and CenH3-associated sequence profiling Haplotype-resolved de novo assembly using phased assembly graphs with hifiasm Canu: scalable and accurate long-read assembly via adaptive k-mer weighting and repeat separation NextDenovo: an efficient error correction and accurate assembly tool for noisy long reads Chen, Y. et al. Fast and accurate assembly of Nanopore reads via progressive error correction and adaptive read selection. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.01.930107 (2020) Liu, H., Wu, S., Li, A. & Ruan, J. SMARTdenovo: a de novo assembler using long noisy reads. Gigabyte https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.15 (2021) NextPolish: a fast and efficient genome polishing tool for long-read assembly De novo assembly of the Aedes aegypti genome using Hi-C yields chromosome-length scaffolds TGS-GapCloser: a fast and accurate gap closer for large genomes with low coverage of error-prone long reads Fast and accurate long-read assembly with wtdbg2 Fast and accurate de novo genome assembly from long uncorrected reads RepeatModeler2 for automated genomic discovery of transposable element families Using RepeatMasker to identify repetitive elements in genomic sequences AUGUSTUS: ab initio prediction of alternative transcripts SNAP: a web-based tool for identification and annotation of proxy SNPs using HapMap TigrScan and GlimmerHMM: two open source ab initio eukaryotic gene-finders Engineering a software tool for gene structure prediction in higher organisms Graph-based genome alignment and genotyping with HISAT2 and HISAT-genotype Transcript assembly and quantification by RNA-seq reveals unannotated transcripts and isoform switching during cell differentiation Full-length transcriptome assembly from RNA-seq data without a reference genome Improving the Arabidopsis genome annotation using maximal transcript alignment assemblies Automated eukaryotic gene structure annotation using EVidenceModeler and the Program to Assemble Spliced Alignments Fast genome-wide functional annotation through orthology assignment by eggNOG-Mapper Improved Pairwise Alignment of Genomic DNA Versatile and open software for comparing large genomes OrthoFinder: solving fundamental biases in whole genome comparisons dramatically improves orthogroup inference accuracy agriGO v2.0: a GO analysis toolkit for the agricultural community MUSCLE: multiple sequence alignment with high accuracy and high throughput RAxML-VI-HPC: maximum likelihood-based phylogenetic analyses with thousands of taxa and mixed models Li, H. Aligning sequence reads, clone sequences and assembly contigs with BWA-MEM. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/1303.3997 (2013) The sequence alignment/map format and SAMtools The Genome Analysis Toolkit: a MapReduce framework for analyzing next-generation DNA sequencing data GCTA: a tool for genome-wide complex trait analysis PLINK: a tool set for whole-genome association and population-based linkage analyses Admixture into and within sub-Saharan Africa Inference of population structure using dense haplotype data Improving the accuracy and efficiency of identity-by-descent detection in population data Antibiotic susceptibility testing by a standardized single disk method Liu, S. Origin and de novo domestication of sweet orange. figshare https://figshare.com/s/8d244c4df1afab94cc04 (2024) Liu, S. Code for the study of origin and de novo domestication of sweet orange. figshare https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.26053999.v2 (2024) Download references Buckler from the Institute for Genomic Diversity Xie from the National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement Huazhong Agricultural University for their advice on our bioinformatic analysis Hunan Agricultural University for providing us with Xcc Zhong for the support of plant growth and metabolic platform from National Key Laboratory for Germplasm Innovation and Utilization of Horticultural Crops This project was financially supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China to Q.X the National Key Research and Development Program of China to Q.X the Key Research and Development Program of Hubei to X.W the Foundation of Hubei Hongshan Laboratory to Q.X Key Project of Hubei Provincial Natural Science Foundation to Q.X Postdoctoral Innovation Research Post in Hubei Province to Y.X and the National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents (grant number BX20200146) to Y.X These authors contributed equally: Shengjun Liu National Key Laboratory for Germplasm Innovation and Utilization of Horticultural Crops Qinghai–Tibet Plateau Fruit Trees Scientific Observation Test Station conceived and designed the project and the strategy collected and created the samples with contributions from L.C. identified the phenotype of disease resistance and antibacterial metabolites with help from K.Y. coordinated the project with help from X.D. wrote the paper with contributions from Y.Z. Nature Genetics thanks Massimo Iorizzo and the other reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations (e) Titratable acids and (f) total soluble solids in mandarins sour oranges and sweet oranges from the NYW region Each point in the figure represents one accession and the value is the average of three biological replicates Source data (a) Fruit shapes and (b) leaf shapes from sour oranges and a sweet orange provide evidence that sour oranges are similar to sweet orange The numbers indicate different accessions of sour orange (b) Ratio of total soluble solid (TSS) to titratable acidity (TA) for ‘TJH2’ (n=3) and sweet orange (n=3) Each box represents the median and inter quartile range (IQR) The error bars represent standard error of the mean (c) Genomic composition of sweet orange (black arrow) and TJH2 (green arrow) homozygous segments with a mandarin origin; yellowish green homozygous segments with a pummelo origin; orange heterozygous segments with a mandarin/pummelo origin; gray Source data Diagram illustrating the contributions of the mandarin and pummelo genomes to the two haplotypes of sour orange (‘ZGSC’) Source data (a) Canker lesions on the leaves of different sour orange accessions The photographs were acquired 7 days after inoculation with Xcc Single inoculation sites are shown (bottom) (b) Pathogen titers in different sour orange accessions and sweet orange after inoculation with Xcc 4 and 7 days after inoculation with 5 μL of 108 CFU ml−1 Xcc as described previously (PLoS Genet Three independent samples were used for the analysis (c) DAB (3,3'-diaminobenzidine) staining of reactive oxygen species in infected leaves The leaves were stained at 4 days after infection the left side was inoculated with 5 μL of pure water as a control The right side was inoculated with 5 μL Xcc bacteria (108 CFU ml−1) Reddish-brown staining indicates the accumulation of H2O2 PSSC and XYSC are different sour orange accessions; SWO Source data Source data for diversity analysis in South China in Fig Source data for genetic diversity analysis in Fig Source data for metabolite analysis and antibacterial effect in Fig Source data for phenotypic statistical analysis in Extended Data Fig Source data for TSS/TA in Extended Data Fig Source data for genomic components in Extended Data Fig Source data for phenotypes of different sour orange accessions after inoculation with Xcc in Extended Data Fig Reprints and permissions Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-025-02122-4 – A spokesperson for Orange County Public Schools has confirmed to News 6 that hundreds of teachers have received letters stating they won’t be returning to their current positions next year as the district deals with a drop in enrollment and budget cuts OCPS said 811 teachers had received non-reappointment letters which means their contracts will not be renewed beyond their current term [Watch video below for explanation of teacher cuts] especially in the Facebook group “Make our OCPS Teachers a Top Priority,” where several anonymous posts were made in April about positions being “cut” and strains on the district’s budget due to a loss of students [EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos] Our News 6 team spoke with OCPS Chief Communications Officer Scott Howat and asked him to explain what’s really going on from the district’s perspective “The non-reappointment process happens every year and it certainly causes some concern anxiety amongst our teachers and understandably.” Howat explained that the non-reappointment process is something the district goes through annually as adjustments are made based on enrollment and they figure out how many teachers they need for how many students they need Howat said there were 960 non-reappointments there were less non-reappointments,” said Howat “And almost half of those non-appointments are temporary contracts a long-term leave type situation where a teacher’s out on maternity leave or is having surgery and so those temporary contract teachers would be non-reappointed anyway.” The district provided even more context in an email to our News 6 team Thursday afternoon They say 374 of the non-reappointments this year are in fact temporary teachers who were hired to cover for long-term leave (maternity/FMLA) “It’s something that really does take place every year It’s part of our yearly budget cycle and process when it comes to the reappointment or non-reappointment process I think there’s a little bit more of a magnifying glass on it because of what’s happening both at the federal and state level when it comes to funding and it comes to enrollment numbers,” said Howat the president of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association said the anticipated under-enrollment is a “direct consequence of the state’s reckless expansion of school vouchers” in a post on Facebook McCracken also said this about the teachers now left in limbo with concerns about their families and the future “These are educators who have dedicated their lives to serving our children and no support for what comes next,” McCracken said Howat said the district hosted a virtual job fair Wednesday just for those teachers that received non-reappointment letters and will be hosting more over the next few weeks “It gave them an opportunity to interview with principals who are in need of positions at every level we’ll continue to do that in order to ensure that all of our vacancies are filled for next year,” said Howat “We do want to make sure that we’re clear that we do want to focus on those teachers first that were non-reappointed.” the projected number of vacancies for the 2025-26 school year is between 450 and 500 A spokesperson said that number is “fluid and can change with additional retirements or resignations.” Howat said as the school board discusses the budget this month they will consider the loss of students and dollars from enrollment as well as the loss of federal funds that they received during the COVID-19 pandemic “We’re pushing right now really hard for kindergarten and voluntary pre-K registrations in order to try to ensure that parents aren’t waiting to enroll their children because the decisions on teachers are being made now,” said Howat the more parents that are enrolling their children early ensures us that we can start to finalize those numbers at the school level.” or homeschool options and encourage them to re-enroll They will pay a consultant nearly $1,000 per student to help bring families back to traditional public schools When asked about criticism the district has received Howat encouraged people to look at the contract “The contract is a performance-based contract would only get paid for every student they bring back to Orange County Public Schools the district would net over $8,000 per student that would be able to pay for quite a few teachers,” said Howat “That is really an initiative to go out and to bring back those students those 3,100 students that we’re potentially losing and ensure that we are shoring up our student population so that we can save teacher positions.” 2025 5:02PMA suspect accused of DUI was in custody after a hit-and-run crash that killed an innocent driver in Orange County (KABC) -- A suspect accused of DUI was taken into custody after a fiery hit-and-run crash that killed an innocent driver in Orange County The violent collision occurred shortly after 11 p.m Friday at the intersection of Magnolia and Pacific avenues a spokesperson for the Orange County Sheriff's Department said News video of the aftermath showed one car engulfed in flames that were later extinguished by firefighters Investigators said the suspect struck the victim's car before attempting to drive away hitting several other vehicles in the process One person was transported to a hospital with unspecified injuries Whether that individual was the suspect was unclear Simple but proper storage will make your favorite citrus juicy for longer Randi Gollin is a freelance food writer and editor who has been covering food Ward Away Mold: "Avoid packing them too tightly together as this can promote mold growth," Morales says Florida’s orange production for the current season is forecast at 12 million boxes after a hurricane this fall accelerated an unrelenting industry downturn That’s down three million boxes from an October forecast, and about 33% lower than the prior season’s output, the US Department of Agriculture said in a Tuesday report Overall US production is forecast at 60.6 million boxes The cut reflects an even dimmer situation for Florida’s citrus industry which had been expected to produce fewer oranges even before Hurricane Milton tore through groves in mid-October Growers have been combating a deadly citrus disease called greening that has decimated orange production while also trying to recover from hurricanes Ian and Irma in 2022 and 2017 Read More: Orange Growers Were Looking for a Turnaround. Then Milton Came. More than 300,000 acres of citrus lands were affected by Hurricane Milton, according to preliminary estimates in October by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Orange juice futures rose as much as 2.1% to $5.0195 a pound on Tuesday Please tell us what we can do to improve this article This perfectly portable fruit could help lower your cholesterol but the risks of eating too much might surprise you and food and wellness blogger at Graciously Nourished Her work focuses on educating and inspiring people to live well and develop a healthy mindset around food She’s been featured as a nutrition expert in a variety of national outlets nutrition and wellness writing can be found in a variety of online publications among several other top-tier health and wellness outlets is the senior nutrition editor for EatingWell She is a registered dietitian with a master's in food While oranges are healthy and packed with nutrients eating too many could cause digestive discomfort and potentially lead to tooth erosion over time due to their high acidity Eating oranges as part of a balanced diet can help support your weight-loss goals Pair oranges with nuts or low-fat yogurt for a balanced Even though the sugars in oranges are naturally occurring they will still lead to a rise in your blood sugar Eating a whole orange will have a smaller effect than drinking orange juice thanks to the fiber the whole fruit contains and you can reduce the spike even more by pairing oranges with a protein-rich food like nuts Miles EA, Calder PC. Effects of citrus fruit juices and their bioactive components on inflammation and immunity: a narrative review Bellavite P, Donzelli A. Hesperidin and SARS-COV-2: New light on the healthy function of citrus fruits. Antioxidants Gref R, Deloménie C, Maksimenko A, et al. Vitamin C–squalene bioconjugate promotes epidermal thickening and collagen production in human skin. Scientific Reports Huo J, Wu L, Lv J, Cao H, Gao Q. Effect of fruit intake on functional constipation: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized and crossover studies. Frontiers in Nutrition The American Heart Association. Heart and Stroke Association Statistics. EndoText. Fiber Content of Selected Fruits. Soliman GA. Dietary fiber, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular disease Mahmoud AM, Bautista RJH, Sandhu MA, Hussein OE. Beneficial effects of citrus flavonoids on cardiovascular and metabolic health. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity USDA. Oranges, Navel. Marley AR, Li M, Champion VL, Song Y, Han J, Li X. The association between citrus consumption and melanoma risk in the UK Biobank Make the most of citrus season with these expert tips Are you ready to join the thousands of companies who rely on Blue Book to drive smarter decisions We’d love to show you what Blue Book can do for you Drop us a line– we’ve been waiting for you Markon Cooperative BB #:123315 released this Orange crop update September 4 2024: California’s available Valencia supply continues to dwindle; some growers have already ended their season Markon Cooperative BB #:123315 released this Orange crop update September 4 California’s available Valencia supply continues to dwindle; some growers have already ended their season Markon expects California to experience a supply gap on oranges in October until the Navel seasons begins in late October/early November Please contact your Markon customer service representative for more information Get access to all the news and analysis you need to make the right decision --- delivered to your inbox G&R Farms launches its 2025 Growing America’s Farmers (GAF) program featuring in-store Vidalia promotions and displays is recalling 4 Count Vine Ripe Tomatoes packaged in clam shell containers The Chilean/Peruvian offshore season will wrap up over the next four weeks Expect pricing to increase as the offshore season winds down The Foundation For Fresh Produce held its annual Consumer Connection Conference April 28-30 tangy refreshment of California-grown grapefruit and introducing a new way to enjoy it Subway is stepping in to make dining decisions even easier with the return of $6.99 Any Footlong all month long USDA has risen its Florida orange forecast by 100,000 boxes compared to it February forecast but it still remains 35% below last year’s final production numbers USDA now predicts that this season’s totals will reach 11.6 million boxes the majority of which are made up by Valencia oranges The year-over-year decline is part of a larger trend which has been largely caused by hurricanes “It’s even lower than the hurricane season of two years ago when you look at 11.6 for all oranges compared to just two seasons ago when it was 15.82 million boxes but you can understand we have less trees and also Hudson says that he blames lower yields on citrus green disease which has now been discovered across most of the state of Florida All Rights Reserved. For more information on this site, please read our Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and Ad Choices. Do Not Sell My Personal Information Industry and market insights and forecasts Key figures and rankings about companies and products Consumer and brand insights and preferences in various industries Detailed information about political and social topics All key figures about countries and regions Market InsightsMarket forecast and expert KPIs for 1000+ markets in 190+ countries & territories Consumer InsightsInsights on consumer attitudes and behavior worldwide eCommerce InsightsDetailed information for 39,000+ online stores and marketplaces Directly accessible data for 170 industries from 150+ countries and over 1 million facts: Full-service market research and analytics Strategy and business building for the data-driven economy Transforming data into content marketing and design: Industry-specific and extensively researched technical data (partially from exclusive partnerships) A paid subscription is required for full access In 2023, the production volume of oranges in Mexico amounted to 4.94 million metric tons. This represents an increase of almost two percent compared to the previous year. That same year, Mexico produced more than 195 thousand metric tons of orange juice Global production of fruit by variety selected 2023 To download this statistic in XLS format you need a Statista Account To download this statistic in PNG format you need a Statista Account To download this statistic in PDF format you need a Statista Account To download this statistic in PPT format you need a Statista Account As a Premium user you get access to the detailed source references and background information about this statistic As a Premium user you get access to background information and details about the release of this statistic you will immediately be notified via e-mail … to incorporate the statistic into your presentation at any time You need at least a Starter Account to use this feature