Orange - a fruit or a berry, what is it better to combine with and how to choose?

For a long time, the Soviet person associated oranges with the New Year holidays, because their ripening dates fall at the end of autumn and the beginning of winter. Today, this sunny fruit can be purchased at any time of the year at the nearest supermarket or vegetable stand, and it is worth using it, because it has tremendous benefits for the body.

Orange is a well-known, affordable and loved by many representative of citrus fruits. The latter are scientifically called orange.

In everyday life, oranges are considered fruits, but it is scientifically correct to say that it is a berry-like fruit. This is due to the peculiarities of its development - it is formed from ovaries, has achenes and is divided into internal chambers.

Calling an orange a fruit, first of all, of course, its size is misleading. We are used to the fact that berries are smaller fruits.

Secondly, fruits mean large sweet fruits of cultivated and wild trees and shrubs. It is not surprising that all sweet fruits are popularly called fruits.

Oranges were grown in China as early as 2.5 thousand years BC. e., from where the fruit came to Europe with seafarers.Its name speaks about the eastern origin of the fruit - in Dutch, orange means "Chinese apple". The birthplace of the fruit is still considered the southeastern territories of Asia. In Europe, the fruit became known rather late - by the middle of the 16th century. Although in the Mediterranean countries, as well as in the south of European territories, oranges began to be cultivated much earlier.

Orange owes its origin to mandarin and pomelo, as a result of crossing of which it appeared. It belongs to the Root family. The orange tree is always a cultivated crop; it does not occur in the wild. It can be dwarf (up to 4-6 m in height) and ordinary (tall tree about 12 m in height).

The plant does not have a branched root system in the usual sense. Instead of root hairs, through which plants usually take moisture and nutrients from the soil, orange roots have capsules. The latter are the "home" for colonies of soil fungi. With a tree, they exist on the principle of symbiosis - the plant supplies them with amino acids and carbohydrates, and the mushrooms give moisture and minerals to the orange in a special, easily digestible form.

Due to the peculiarities of the root system, orange trees are quite capricious. Mushrooms cannot stand drought, temperature fluctuations in the soil, they often die during transplantation, which means the death of the whole plant.

The plant has fairly large leaves. The latter are characterized by an oval shape with an elongated serrated side. The leaves are smooth, leathery, glossy dark green. On the branches, they are often located together with small thorns.

Usually the leaf is wavy on the edge - aromatic glands are located here. They secrete a fragrant essential oil.Both old and young leaves are located on the same tree at the same time, their "life" is about two years. Young leaves are responsible for photosynthesis, while old leaves act as a store of useful substances.

During the flowering period, the plant is covered with fragrant white flowers. They can be single (about 5 cm in diameter) or collected in inflorescences of 6 pieces. The flowering period is very short and is only 2-3 days. In this case, the laying of buds is carried out 2 months before flowering.

The fruits are multi-celled berries. Its size and shade depend on the variety. But in general, it is a rounded fruit at least the size of a fist with an orange shell. There is a variety of fruit that looks like an orange orange with red patches (for example, the variety "Korolek").

The peel contains a large number of aromatic glands. The peel in the scientific world is called “flavedo”, and its inner white layer is “albedo”. The latter is characterized by friability, which leads to an easy separation of the zest from the pulp.

If you cut an orange, you can see that it consists of 9-13 chambers separated by a white shell - a film. Each chamber, in turn, consists of smaller elements - juice bags.

The plant has 2-3 periods of active growth during the growing season, which are replaced by dormant stages. Under favorable conditions, the plant can bear fruit up to 75 years. Although there are specimens whose vegetation period was 100-150 years. Fruiting usually begins 8-9 years after planting.

In ancient times, oranges were an expensive and rare product. Today, this is one of the most affordable and affordable fruits.It is usually imported to Russia from Turkey, Morocco, Egypt, Italy, Spain, South Africa. Orange plantations also exist in Brazil, India, and the USA.

The most popular are sweet and sour-sweet varieties.

87% bright fruit consists of water. Of course, this is not the liquid that flows through the plumbing or is used as a drink. This is a structured composition, close to that with which the internal organs of a person are washed.

In its raw form, the fruit has a low calorie content - 47 kcal per 100 g of product. The energy value of squeezed fresh juice is 2 kilocalories less for the same volume. These are average sweet oranges. For sweet and sour fruits, the calorie content is 36 kcal per 100 g of fresh orange.

The balance of BJU is presented as 0.9 / 0.2 / 10.3 g. The composition also contains fiber and pectin, sugar. The sour taste of the fruit is due to the presence of organic acids in it.

Perhaps everyone knows that an orange contains vitamin C in large quantities. However, in addition to ascorbic acid, there are A, E, H, PP and B vitamins (B9 - folic acid, B2 - riboflavin, B1 - thiamine, listed in decreasing order of quantity in composition. ). It also contains beta-carotene.

The microelement composition is represented by potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, sodium, etc. Among the macroelements that make up the orange, iron, zinc, ash, iodine, and fluorine should be distinguished.

The richness of the vitamin and mineral composition determines the healing, tonic and strengthening effects of the fetus. Due to the high content of vitamin C, it has a beneficial effect on the immune system, strengthening it.This, in turn, allows the body to better resist the attacks of viral infectious diseases, beriberi, and negative environmental factors. Being an antiseptic, orange neutralizes the infectious environment of the mouth and throat.

Consuming an orange regularly is a delicious way to prepare yourself for flu and cold seasons. It is definitely worth including it in the autumn months and in late winters - early spring, since the vitamin-rich fruit with a bright taste will drive away the blues and beriberi.

It is enough to eat 150 g of citrus to fill the body's daily need for ascorbic acid. A sufficient amount of this vitamin improves the body's absorption of calcium, which, in turn, is vital for strong bones and teeth.

The presence of acids, as well as a number of micro and macro elements, allow the orange to improve digestive processes. Its consumption stimulates the production of gastric juice and enzymes that help to process food faster and better. This, in turn, helps speed up metabolism and lipid metabolism. Food is digested better, the breakdown of fats occurs faster.

The presence of fiber makes the fruit a kind of "panicle" for the intestines. It improves peristalsis, which also speeds up the digestion process. Fiber, passing through it, literally scrapes food remnants, waste products of useful and pathogenic microflora from its walls, and without being digested, leaves the body along with them. The pectin contained in the composition cleanses of toxins and toxins.

Finally, the sour fruit stimulates appetite, provokes the separation of bile, which also allows us to talk about the benefits of oranges for the digestive tract.With plant fibers and pectin in its composition, the orange shows a slight laxative effect and helps to get rid of constipation.

Antioxidants and vitamin PP are useful for blood vessels. Due to their presence in the composition of the walls of the latter, they become more elastic, the level of "bad" cholesterol decreases. This allows the blood to “run” through clean vessels of normal fullness, without the risk of encountering obstacles in the form of cholesterol plaques.

The presence of iron allows us to talk about the ability of the fruit to maintain hemoglobin levels. A low level indicates that the blood contains an insufficient amount of oxygen, which means that tissues and organs receive insufficient nutrition. Eating oranges regularly avoids this problem.

The presence of magnesium and potassium makes the orange a product that is also good for the heart. These trace elements show a strengthening effect on the heart muscle. The ability of the fruit to remove water also allows you to relieve the load from the heart (it relieves edema, “unloads” the kidneys). Thus, the use of the fetus is the prevention of thrombosis, heart attacks, strokes, atherosclerosis.

The high content of B vitamins strengthens the nerves, improving the conduction of the nerve impulse. Due to the peculiarities of the composition, fresh aroma and energetic taste, the orange successfully copes with signs of chronic fatigue, blues. Vitamin B9, known as folic acid, is vital during pregnancy, as it is involved in the formation of the neural tube of the fetus and some of its internal organs.

Phosphorus and antioxidants improve the patency of small vessels of the brain, prevent narrowing of the lumen in these vessels.

Vitamins A and E are involved in the activity of the reproductive system, stimulating the production of certain hormones. Being antioxidants, they remove radionuclides from the body, reduce the intensity of age-related cell changes. Together with vitamin B, they help maintain skin tone and beauty.

Orange juice is known for its bactericidal and regenerating properties due to phytoncides in the composition, so it is actively used to treat long-term non-healing wounds. An aqueous decoction based on the crusts has long been known as a hemostatic agent, it is often drunk with heavy and painful menstruation.

Thanks to salicylic acid in fruits, they have a slight antipyretic effect. An old recipe recommends pouring 3-4 slices with a quarter cup of hot water, leave for a quarter of an hour and give to the patient to bring down the temperature.

Fruits with a characteristic taste and aroma will drive away drowsiness, have a tonic effect on all body systems. Water-containing fruit perfectly quenches thirst.

However, these beneficial properties are manifested only in the absence of contraindications to the use of fruits. Cases of individual intolerance should be the reason for refusing to consume it. Like all citrus fruits, orange is a strong allergen, so it is best not to give it to children under 3 years of age, it should be consumed with caution during pregnancy. During breastfeeding, it is also better to refrain from oranges.

The high acid content makes this fruit dangerous in case of high acidity of the gastric juice, as this will aggravate the situation. You should not eat fruits with acute diseases of the digestive tract and pancreas.

The high sugar content makes the product undesirable for people suffering from diabetes and obesity. It is definitely better for the last category of people to refuse orange fresh juice - a glass of drink contains about 200 calories.

It is better to eat oranges separately from another meal, so as not to provoke fermentation processes and increased flatulence.

Summarizing the above data, we will characterize the orange. It is a multi-celled berry of the citrus family. Like the rest of the family, it has a characteristic taste and strong citrus aroma.

A spherical fruit covered with an orange skin is used for food. The inside is juicy, with a water content of up to 70-80%.

Cultivated in areas with tropical and subtropical climates. The plant is demanding on temperature and light conditions, rather capricious in care.

Orange contains many vitamins and vital elements. Features of its taste are due to the content of organic acids and sugars.

If, when buying, the seller has the opportunity to name the type of orange, already on the basis of this, one can draw a conclusion about the taste characteristics of the fruit. For example, Chinese or Portuguese oranges are often described as sweet, which they are. If the fruit is called "orange", you have the most sour kind of oranges. "Bergamot", which is a derivative of "orange" (it is crossed with "citron"), has a bitter-sour taste and a pronounced lime aroma.

If the fruit was brought from Turkey or Morocco, then most likely it is one of two varieties - "Valencia" or "Washington Nevil". The first grade is distinguished by a thick orange skin with red patches. The tone has a sweet taste. Oranges "Korolek" and "Temple" get similar taste characteristics. "Washington Navel" is moderately juicy with a sweet and sour taste, also has a thick skin, and the fruit contains few seeds.

Navel oranges are also sweet. They have a kind of hill in the place where the ovary is formed from the side opposite to the peduncle.

When buying, you should focus on the aroma. In ripe fruits, it is felt very strongly - before reaching the store counter, you should feel a fresh citrus smell. This indicates maturity.

Another criterion is the weight of the fetus. In its mature form, it has a much larger mass than it might seem at first glance. That is, if, picking up a medium-sized orange, you were surprised to find that it is heavy, most likely it is worth buying.

Pay attention to the peel. Its thickness can be any, it depends on the variety. The same applies to the shade, the only thing is that it should not be green.

The best time to buy oranges is from late November to December, it is during this period that their technical ripening takes place, so the fruits will be tasty and bring maximum benefit. Harvested in season fruits are better stored.

As for the size, you should choose fruits of medium size. Too large ones will turn out to be unsweetened, and when buying small fruits, there is a chance of getting unripe ones.

The orange should be firm, with pressure on the skin should not leave dents.Dried areas on the peel, as well as damage to it, are a reason to refuse a purchase. Even if such a fruit has not yet rotted, putrefactive processes are already underway inside it. In addition, any damage to the fruit becomes an entrance gate for pathogenic microflora.

The thickness of the rind should not be an indication of the flavor of the orange. It is believed that thicker-skinned fruits are sweeter, but this is not so. They are simply easier to peel, but you will have to spend extra money for the weight of a thick peel, since in some varieties its weight can reach 40% of the total weight of the fruit. By purchasing thin-skinned fruits, you will save yourself from such expenses, but it will be longer and more difficult to clean it. As a rule, pores on it indicate a thick peel, while a smooth "skin" usually turns out to be thin.

But from thick-skinned and overly bumpy oranges, you can’t expect much taste and benefit. It is highly likely that they are plucked unripe and then chemically treated to give a certain appearance.

Pay attention to the place of sale. Fruits do not like excessive cold, they begin to rot. It is optimal if the temperature on the counter in the store is maintained within 5-10 degrees. Brown spots indicate a violation of the principles of transportation and storage. The freshness of the fruit can be additionally indicated by green leaves, which sometimes “arrive” along with the fruits.

Knowing about the compatibility of oranges with other products is useful not only in order to get the most harmonious taste of the finished dish.Such information and the correct combination will help to avoid unpleasant symptoms of indigestion - nausea, heaviness in the abdomen, heartburn, flatulence. With the wrong combination of citrus fruits with other products, the likelihood of developing fermentation processes and putrefactive phenomena increases. All this can destroy the beneficial intestinal microflora, provoke serious disturbances in the functioning of the digestive tract. Finally, it should be remembered that most immune cells are located in the intestines, and therefore a regular violation of the principles of nutrition can undermine the body's immune forces.

So, fruits with sourness, including orange, harmonize well with sour and semi-acid fruits and berries - other citrus fruits, sour apples, cherries, currants, gooseberries, lingonberries, grapes. True, due to the sharply increased level of acidity, such combinations are not recommended for people with high acidity of gastric juice.

A combination of orange with fermented milk products - fermented baked milk, cottage cheese helps to neutralize a little acid. The latter envelop the walls of the stomach to minimize the effect of acids on them.

A useful tandem will be the union of an orange with cheeses (the latter are better to take with a mild taste), non-starchy vegetables, nuts or herbs.

But from the combination of starch (for example, potatoes) and a Japanese apple, one can confidently expect negative consequences for digestion. The “partnership” of animal proteins with oranges will not be the most successful, however, with fatty meats (for example, pork), oranges combine very well.

Sourness allows you to eliminate the increased fat content of meat, give it a piquancy, and the acids included in the composition help the intestines to digest such heavy food.

If you decide to include an orange in your meal, then it is better to eat it before the main meal, for example, by adding it to a vegetable salad with herbs. If you consume the fruit after a meal, especially a heavy one, then it will remain undigested for a long time, which increases the risk of its fermentation in the intestines.

In desserts, this representative of citrus goes well with light dough, such as cottage cheese, as well as meringue, various creamy puddings and jelly. Its addition to chocolate desserts has become a classic.

Oranges, unlike bananas, for example, do not ripen at room temperature. That is, if you bought sour unripe fruits, they will either have to be thrown away or subjected to heat treatment (for example, bake an orange pie), but it is pointless to expect them to ripen.

Fruits do not like to be stored in the cold, because of this they begin to rot. The first signs of rotting are small dark spots on the peel.

At home, fruits can be stored indoors for up to 7-9 days. The temperature must be at least 5 degrees. The storage place must be protected from moisture (humidity indicators - 85-90%), it is better to store the fruits in the dark.

Ripe fruit can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 20-30 days. To do this, the temperature regime should be set within +3 ... +8 degrees. However, these refrigerator temperatures may not be suitable for storing dairy or meat products.The exit can be special compartments on the refrigerator door. If you set the temperature in the storage itself to 1-2 degrees (optimal for "milk"), then it will be 1-2 divisions warmer in the door. What you need to store Chinese apples!

The shelf life is also affected by the harvest time and its variety. The alternation of temperature regimes allows you to increase this time period - every day or two you should take the fruit out of the refrigerator and leave it in the room for 5-7 hours, and then return it to cooler conditions.

Bright light can shorten the shelf life, under the influence of which vitamin C is also partially destroyed. Therefore, it is better to use dark craft bags in which you can put fruits and put them in the refrigerator. At the same time, if condensation appears on them or on the inner surface, the fruits should be wiped dry, and the packaging should be replaced with a new one. Do not seal the bag tightly.

Before storing the fruits, it is recommended to wrap each with special paper (this is often found in the store when storing fruits and vegetables) or a regular napkin.

It is best not to place citrus fruits near other foods, especially short-lived vegetables and fruits, as this can cause orange rot. If a large batch is stored, then every 3-5 days the fruits should be sorted out, removing the sick and rotten ones.

To increase the shelf life of oranges in the refrigerator, you can resort to the following trick. Their skin should be rubbed with a small amount of vegetable oil. By the way, this method is effective for all types of citrus fruits.

Orange, as well as its constituent parts (zest, juice) are widely used in cooking in different countries.They are added to literally all categories of dishes, from salads and soups to desserts. As a rule, sweet and sour fruits are added to vegetable salads, cheese snacks, combined with meat, seafood. Sweet varieties are more successfully revealed in desserts, pastries, drinks, they are harmonious with spices.

Orange peel, finely grated, is used to add to pastries. From this, the dough acquires a beautiful yellowish tint and citrus aroma. Candied orange peels are a healthy and tasty treat, especially popular in France. The peels contain a large amount of essential oils. It is extracted by pressing and is also used to add to pastries, desserts, drinks, and sauces.

Perhaps, few people will be surprised with jam and jams from oranges. It has become customary to combine meat or poultry with this fruit. Duck with apples and oranges, pork with citruses and orange sauce - all these are quite familiar dishes. In Brazil, orange is part of a dish called feijoada, which is a mixture of beans and cured meats seasoned with spices and topped with thin slices of orange.

The Portuguese often prepare fruit salads with oranges, and the Japanese also add seafood to them. A traditional Chinese dish is meat with orange sauce, and the "main" dish is the sauce. It gives the meat a sweet and sour sound, provides piquancy and uniqueness to the dish.

The love of Italians for pasta is difficult to “interrupt”, so they even serve their national dish with an orange.

Salads with oranges can be divided into sweet and savory, satisfying. To prepare the first, it is enough to take in an arbitrary ratio those fruits and berries with which citrus fruits go well - these are sour and semi-sweet.

You should not take a large number of ingredients - 2-3 different fruits and 1-2 types of berries are enough. Addition can be basil, mint, and nuts. Natural yogurt, low-fat sour cream, kefir, and orange juice are used as dressings. The latter can be mixed with liquid honey or apple cider vinegar.

The simplest combination for a salad is chicken or shrimp, eggs, orange and dressing. This option is not just a delicious dish, but a protein snack or a light dinner. Lettuce leaves will help to fully reveal the taste. They usually lay out the rest of the ingredients.

You can supplement the salad with soft cheese (for example, cheese, Adyghe), which is crumbled on top of the rest of the ingredients. It is good to use not ordinary, but quail eggs, cut in half. You can do the same with cherry tomatoes. If tomatoes are added, then you need to take semi-sweet varieties. Pickled sweet onions will also emphasize the versatility of taste.

As a dressing, you can use a mixture of olive oil, orange juice and soy sauce. You can take natural yogurt and sour cream with a low fat content and mix them with finely chopped parsley, basil, cilantro. It is permissible to sprinkle the dish on top with nuts, pomegranate seeds, decorate with a sprig of mint, sesame seeds.

It is better not to season salads with orange mayonnaise. And the point is not only that this is a product of little use (if we are talking about a store version).Mayonnaise is too oily for an orange, its dense texture overly covering the citrus pieces, making them unattractive in appearance and taste.

For salads, you can also use the zest, adding a small amount to the dressing. When using the pulp, it must be carefully cleaned of seeds and white film. You can carefully cut the fruit in half, remove the pulp and white film. Next, prepare the salad and fill the remaining halves with the finished dish. Such a presentation will undoubtedly surprise guests and households.

Oranges should be introduced into the salad last, and so that they do not darken and dry out, sprinkle with lemon juice first.

At first glance, such a combination, especially for people with a Russian mentality, seems not just unusual, but strange. However, the orange is not the main ingredient here, but only complements the shades of the other components, introducing a light citrus aftertaste.

A variant of this soup can be called orange-tomato soup, containing a large amount of tomatoes in their own juice and leeks. Other ingredients include celery, olive oil, garlic and spices. Juice is squeezed out of an orange, and a little zest is also used. They are stewed together with chopped vegetables, and then chicken or vegetable broth is introduced. The result is a thick and rich soup with a pronounced tomato-onion flavor and a soft, subtle citrus tinge.

Orange zest is also added to cold beetroot soups. As a rule, they also imply the presence of herbs and spices.

Orange juice is also added to vegetable soup with sweet potatoes. A feature of the dish is a rich, rich taste, which is explained by the long languishing of the soup, first on the stove and then in the oven.The presence of garlic, spices, butter and cream also provides a warming softness of taste.

In general, zest and juice are common additions to creamy vegetable soups and creamy soups.

Almost all types of meat and fish go well with oranges (although most nutritionists find such an alliance of little use for digestion). Orange can be baked with meat, used to make sauces, or added cut into thin slices in a ready-made dish. Sour orange juice is an excellent marinade that will help the meat become soft and tender, and bake well.

And if you mix orange juice with soy sauce and liquid honey and pour this composition on roasted meat or barbecue, then the dish will turn out with a beautiful golden crust.

One of the most famous hot Chinese apple dishes is lamb rack. It is prepared from loin - a high-grade part of lamb, which can be spoiled, perhaps, by overcooking in the oven. The classic recipe involves the use of a minimum set of products. In fact, all you need is the appropriate pieces of lamb, honey and soy sauce, spices and a couple of oranges.

Part of the peel must be turned into a thin zest, cut into strips. She usually decorates the finished dish. Rub the rest of the skin. The meat is marinated and then baked with honey, orange juice and soy product sauce. You can effectively serve the dish by placing the ribs with a hut - the pulp is on a plate in two rows, and the bones of each row are crossed with the opposite one. You can decorate this masterpiece with strips of zest.

A similar sauce can be used for roasting pork. The latter can be cut into steaks or left to bake in a whole piece. Serve with slices of zest and fresh orange slices. Complete the meal with a green salad or boiled rice.

You can cook any meat, chicken or turkey according to your favorite recipe and pour over the finished dish with orange sauce. The simplest recipe involves boiling orange juice with a small amount of spices and zest. A small amount of potato starch helps to thicken it.

You can add sour cream or cream, mustard seeds, nuts and herbs to the sauce. By experimenting with spices, you can get different shades of the finished sauce. The addition of black ground pepper, sesame and mustard seeds, rosemary, basil, cardamom, oregano will be successful.

The tradition of stuffing poultry with fruits, primarily duck, has become widespread. Being dry in itself, in combination with oranges it acquires juiciness and tenderness. Initially, this dish was prepared in France, but gradually gained literally worldwide distribution.

The prepared carcass is usually marinated with any sauce with the addition of orange. The easiest option is to mix orange juice, honey and soy sauce. You can add some olive oil. For the filling, oranges, along with the peel, are cut into slices, mixed with pickled sweet onions cut into rings, spices, and dried herbs.

After 2-3 hours of pickling, the duck is stuffed with oranges and onions, the resulting hole is closed with toothpicks, wrapped in foil and baked at a low temperature for about an hour.

The simplest, but perhaps the most useful orange drink is freshly squeezed juice. It turns out to be highly concentrated, so it is better to dilute it with water or combine it with neutral natural juices - apple, carrot. By the way, if you drink such a drink half an hour before going to the beach, you will be able to get a beautiful tan faster!

To prepare natural juice with zest, it is better to use frozen fruit, this will help get rid of the bitterness of the skin. It is enough to place the oranges in the freezer overnight, then pierce with a blender and squeeze the juice from the resulting slurry.

On the basis of an orange, you can cook compotes and fruit drinks. To do this, the fruit cut into slices or rings (along with the zest) is poured with hot sugar syrup. Citruses should not be dipped into boiling compote liquid, as is done with dried fruits and apples. A boiled orange becomes bitter, unattractive in appearance, and most importantly, loses almost all healing properties.

If you punch the pulp of an orange with a banana and berries in a blender and pour yogurt, kefir or natural juice in half with mineral water, you get a refreshing cocktail.

Dried orange peel, as well as fresh slices, are added to tea. It can be added to the usual tea leaves, as well as supplemented with currant leaves, cinnamon, cloves. Such a drink is especially pleasant to drink in winter, as it has a warming taste.

Orange peel can be added to all types of dough for sweet pastries. It is better to put it not immediately into the dough, but mix it with sugar. This should be done at least an hour and a half before you start cooking.During this time, the sweetener will be saturated with essential oils. Ready-made pastries will have a delicious aroma and a pleasant yellowish tint.

Candied oranges are traditionally added to muffins. On orange juice, you can cook dry pastries - mannik, cookies, biscuits, partially or completely replacing water in the recipe with juice.

Curd dough or filling is also harmonious with orange zest or pulp. Using a jelly filling, oranges can be used to top the cake. An amazing sound comes from the combination of chocolate pastries and oranges.

In a word, this sunny fruit will complement literally any sweet pastries. However, replacing milk or liquids in yeast-leavened baked goods with orange juice is not a good idea, as this will ruin the texture. The result of such experiments can be unpredictable.

If you want to add an orange to the filling, then due to the high amount of moisture, it can “float”, which will lead to burning the cake. In this case, it is better to first boil the pulp of an orange with sugar to a confiture state.

Due to the presence of acids and pectin, oranges make delicious jams and marmalades. Often, fruit is added to currant, apple and plum preparations to obtain a more piquant taste.

It is enough to boil orange juice with gelatin and pour the mixture into molds to get marmalade. It remains only to wait until the mixture is completely dry, and roll it in sugar.

And if you boil orange slices in sweet syrup, and then dry them thoroughly until the pieces stop sticking to your hands, you get candied fruit.Such candied and dried slices can be eaten as an independent dish, or added to pastries, cottage cheese, cereals. The main thing is not to forget about their high calorie content.

Jam is prepared not only from the pulp, but also the zest. To do this, it is cut into slices, soaked for several hours in water, periodically changing the liquid. This will get rid of bitterness.

Regardless of the recipe used, before removing the zest from an orange, it should be scalded with boiling water. This will remove the layer of wax and other compounds that are usually applied to improve the transportability and keeping quality of the fruit.

See the video below for the properties and uses of orange.