"Roger Shoaf" in
:

"William Rose" wrote in message




One of my father's high school buddies is a grower for Sunkist in
southern CA. Whan I was a lad we had a class in school where they
talked about the
"good bugs" and one of the good bugs was the ones they talked about
was the
one they used on the oranges. When I asked if he used the good
bugs, he not only confirmed this but took me into the orchard and
showed me. He seemed real happy to expalin the whole opperation
and how the growers co-op markets the citrus.

http://images.google.com/images?q=citrus+rust+mite+

http://www.google.com/search?q=citrus+rust+predator++

citrus has uncommon phenomenon among fruit regarding (rind) color:
http://www.google.com/search?q=%7Eci...+colorati on+
http://lib.ucr.edu/agnic/webber/Vol1/Chapter4.html
[snip]
color is markedly affected by the temperature regime during the ripening period and thereafter. Maximum color intensity
develops when the fruit is subjected to considerable chilling—normally the result of cold nights. In arid, subtropical
climates, this is assured by the prevalent cool nights (associated with the wide diurnal fluctuations in temperature) which
characterize the fall and winter months. Primarily because of warmer nights (associated with small diurnal temperature
variations), color development in semitropical climates is much slower and the intensity ultimately attained considerably
lower, with the possible exception of some of the mandarins, notably Dancy tangerine.
Other fruit characters materially affected by atmospheric humidity during the growing season include rind surface,
thickness, texture and adherence, texture of the flesh (juice vesicles and carpellary membranes), and juice content. Thus,
in semitropical regions such as Florida, the rind is smoother, thinner, softer, and more tightly adherent, the flesh and
carpellary membranes are tenderer, and the juice content is higher than in such subtropical regions as California.
Flavor is markedly influenced by the same conditions that are primarily responsible for the intensity of color
development
[snip]

i think some of the color can "revert" to green if fruit needs to ripen after the winter, so , picking season influences rind
color when sold. and different varieties ripen in different seasons.

I learned all kinds of things like the fact that when they pick
oranges they do not pluck them from the tree, they have special
pliers that look liike wire cutters to cut the stem close to the
fruit. This is done for two reasons. First, depending on the
amount grip the stem has it sometimes pulls a chunk of the peal
off the fruit, and second because the little bit of exposed pith
that could result allows the fruit to spoil prematurly.

Seems to me that this farmer's co op is serious about bringing
good food to market.

So inless things have substanttially changed in the past 30 years,
that is the source of my information.

I just surfed the Sunkist website looking to see if I could find
more information and it appears I was not completly up to date on
my information. They apperantly do use some form of pesticide, not
supprizing really given that nasty bugs like medeteranian fruit
flys can kill the industry, but as for me I am not worried. I am
sure that they would be happy to answer any direct inquiries about
the saftey of their produce.

without researching now, i think there are *other* fruit flies that are trouble in the central and east US
http://www.google.com/search?q=%7Eci...terranean+orie
ntal+mexican

less notorious:
http://www.google.com/search?q=%7Eci...7C++Rhagoletis
++minor+

the olive ff is more recent introduction.
http://www.google.com/search?q=usa+%...ntroduction+20
00+%7C+2001

You can reach them at http://www.sunkist.com/contact/ and you also
can get one of those pealer things I mentioned.