Midknight Valencia Orange

The Midknight Valencia orange is a South African variety of the standard Valencia orange. The exact origin of the fruit is unknown, but, around 1927 this variety was first noticed growing among Valencia orange trees in an orchard at Addo, Eastern Cape province South Africa by Mr. A.P. Knight whom the orange was later named after.

Citrus sinensis 'Midknight' - Valencia orange

General

Characteristics

The 'Midknight' Valencia orange is a South African variety of the standard Valencia orange. There are both positive and negative differences between 'Midknight' Valencia, and standard Valencia oranges and their respective trees. 'Midknight' trees are slower growing, and more susceptible to copper deficiency and frost than standard Valencia trees, but grow larger, juicier fruit with fewer seeds; the Valencia orange is easier to peel and produces larger yields. Other characteristics of the 'Midknight' Valencia orange include its somewhat oblong shape, good juicing quality, earlier ripening than other Valencias, and its large, broad leaves.[1][2]

History

The exact origin of the 'Midknight' Valencia orange is unknown, but around 1927 this variety was first noticed, growing among Valencia orange trees in an orchard at Addo, Eastern Cape province, South Africa by Mr. A.P. Knight who the orange was later named after. In years following, more observations were made documenting characteristics of the orange and also coming to the conclusion that this orange should be considered a variety of the standard Valencia orange.[1][2][3]

South African trade of 'Midknight'

South Africa is a very large citrus exporter, accounting for 60% of the Southern Hemisphere's citrus. Near all of 'Midknight' Valencia oranges shipped to the United States from South Africa are provided through The Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum,WCCPF,an association of roughly 350 independent, export-approved summer citrus growers in South Africa. The organization has been shipping South African summer citrus to The United States since 1999. Shipments have grown substantially from just 50 tons to ~40,000 tons that were expected as of 2011 estimates for that year's summer citrus shipments. 600,000 cartons of 'Midknight' oranges alone were set to arrive in the U.S in 2011 which was 60,000 more cartons than were shipped in 2010. Even the original shipments in 2011 proved not to be enough; 'Midknight' Valencia oranges were in such high demand in the U.S. that a vessel had to be discharged during a weekend to get oranges on grocery shelves as soon as possible. 'MidKnight' Valencia oranges have proved to be a staple of South African summer citrus even with their short availability window (August–October) that brings the citrus season to a close.[4][5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Oranges – African Trade Market". Africantrademarket.com. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  2. 1 2 "midknight". www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu.
  3. ↑ http://greenlandgarden.com/pdf/tips/Citrus%20Indoors.pdf
  4. ↑ "South Africa's Midknight Oranges Arriving In The U.S. - PerishableNews". www.perishablenews.com.
  5. ↑ "South Africa's Midknight Oranges In High Demand - PerishableNews". www.perishablenews.com.
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