Why mandarins matter

A single mandarin offers a modest 50 calories and is high in vitamin C, providing more than 30 percent of the Daily Value. They are easy to enjoy no matter where I am.

I also love that they are packed with vitamins A and C to help boost my immune system during cold and flu season. Types of Mandarins Almost all small orange citrus fruits—including tangerines and clementines —are actually mandarins. The exception is kumquats, which look like oranges the size of olives. How to Use To cook with mandarins, peel and section them, then toss segments onto salads or into stir-fries. Use a blender or juicer to extract the tangy liquid for vinaigrettes, barbecue sauces, and beverages such as smoothies or juices.

How to Store Store fruit in a bag in the refrigerator for up to a month. Or place in a fruit bowl on the counter. Try these this tasty Mandarin-Avocado Salsa today! All Rights Reserved. Want to save even more? Become a MyThyme member! Taste panels included early and mid-season Navel oranges consumers in Melbourne and Perth and early and mid-season Afourer mandarins consumers in Melbourne. These results confirm overseas studies where five different surveys on consuming fresh oranges and mandarins across various cities in the UK, USA, and Israel were conducted between and In general, orange and mandarin consumers seem to prefer fruit with a balanced and intense flavour i.

This is a major and growing market destination for Australian citrus exports. It is important to develop a good understanding of specific consumer requirements in different export markets for both external and internal citrus fruit attributes, including flavour quality. Before harvest, they should test many fruits several times during ripening. Non-destructive and portable Vis-NIRS is a viable alternative to time-consuming and destructive testing by refractometers and titrations.

Farmers can improve the quality of fruits they market and get premium prices by fine-tuning their harvest time. Farmers can easily and rapidly analyze intact fruits still on the tree.

They can stagger harvest and pluck only ripe fruits so that each batch is of the right and highest possible quality. Moreover, farmers can make necessary changes to their agricultural strategies once they know the quality of fruits from each location, tree, and position. Figure 2: Spotting due to rind breakdown disorder in mandarins, Magwaza et al.

Mature mandarins are susceptible to rind breakdown disorder. Earlier believed to be a fungal attack, scientists now think it is a physiological disorder of the fruits brought on by abiotic factors.

It can occur preharvest and postharvest depending on the variety. Preharvest rind breakdown disorder has been observed on Satsuma mandarins in California when fruits turn from green to orange.

It occurs when wet weather is combined with sharp drops in temperature, leading to the release of rind oil and cell collapse under the cuticle. Usually, the exposed side of fruits is affected throughout the canopy. Preharvest fruit development conditions and certain postharvest management practices can lead to this problem.

Fruits that have grown in shaded portions of the tree without enough sunlight often see the disorder weeks after harvest. NIRS has shown that fruits on the outer side of the trees have more dry matter, carbohydrates, and phenolic acids than fruits from inner canopies. These fruits also have a thinner rind. Post-harvest practices like excessive or lengthy degreening by ethylene, postponing cooling, and prolonged cold storage can also cause this problem.

Packing houses and farmers should cull fruits that already have, or could develop, rind breakdown disorder. Spoiled fruits are easy to recognize by spotting. Small and light-colored fruits tend to be prone to rind breakdown disorder, so they should be culled also.

Early detection of rind breakdown disorder is also possible with Vis-NIRS by using total carbohydrates as the parameter. TSS, DM, and TA are the quality parameters that are widely used in quality control of mandarins around the world at various stages of the supply chain. Packing houses usually test fruits before shipping to ensure that the minimum TSS standards are met and that TA is not above prescribed levels.

To optimize the quality of mandarin to meet customer satisfaction, there are several measures that farmers and suppliers can adopt. Suppliers can control the quality of their mandarins by maintaining quality and preventing the occurrence of pathogens and other problems. To prevent rind breakdown disorder, packinghouses should.