| Jaffa orange | |
|---|---|
 Jaffa oranges on sale atMahane Yehuda Market inJerusalem | |
| Species | Citrus × sinensis |
| Hybrid parentage | 'Baladi' orange × unknown |
| Cultivar | 'Jaffa' |
| Origin | Ottoman Palestine (region) in mid-19th century (c. 1840s) |
TheJaffa orange (Arabic:برتقال يافا;Hebrew:תפוז יפו) is anorange variety with few seeds and a toughskin that make it highly exportable. It was developed byArab farmers in mid-19th centuryOttoman Palestine, and takes its name from the city ofJaffa where it was first produced for export.[1][2] Jaffa oranges are known for their sweet taste.
During the initialZionistJewish immigration to Palestine in the late 19th century, the business of maintaining orchards and exporting oranges was an integrated venture of Jews and Arabs based out of thePort of Jaffa. Today, the Jaffa orange is one of three main varieties of the fruit grown in theMediterranean, alongside thenavel andbitter orange. It is cultivated inPalestine,Israel,Cyprus,Iraq,Lebanon,Syria,Jordan andTurkey.[2]
Jaffa oranges, also known asshamouti, are practicallyseedless, with a flavour that has been described as "excellent" and "sweet and fine".[2][3][4] The two other main orange varieties cultivated in the region are the navel orange and the bitter orange; the latter is grown inIran for its peel.[2] The Jaffa orange is distinguished by its oval shape and thick peel, which is deep orange in colour and normally very easy to remove from the fruit. Its tough skin makes it "especially suitable for export".[3][4] As it produces very little juice and has a tendency towards delayed bitterness, it is unsuitable forjuice production, although it does store well.[4]
Jaffa oranges are very cold-tolerant, allowing them to grow outside of thesubtropical regions normally associated with growing oranges. Jaffa oranges are susceptible toAlternaria, a type offungus, and are prone toalternate bearing.[citation needed]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: post-1948 history. You can help byadding to itadding to it ormaking an edit request.(September 2025) |
Located at the crossroads between Africa,western Asia, and Europe, theLevant produced a number of commodities for export via imperial and global distribution networks throughout thelate Ottoman period (1200–1900 CE). Among these wereNabulsi soap, sugar,barley, oranges, andcotton. Though cotton left was influential throughout the region, the only commodity that remains a symbol of production in Palestine is the Jaffa orange.[citation needed]
The Jaffa orange was a new variety developed by Arab farmers after emerging in the mid-19th century as a mutation on a tree of the 'Baladi' variety near the city of Jaffa.[1][2] While thesour orange (C. aurantium) was brought westward from China and India by local traders, who may have introduced it toSicily and Spain, the Jaffa orange was developed from thesweet orange (C. sinensis) which was brought from China to the Mediterranean region by Portuguese explorerVasco da Gama in 1498.[2]
After theCrimean War (1853–56), the most important innovation in local agriculture was the rapid expansion of citrus cultivation.[3] Foremost among the varieties cultivated was the Jaffa (Shamouti) orange, and mention of it being exported to Europe first appears in British consular reports in the 1850s.[1][3] One factor cited in the growth of the export market was the development ofsteamships in the first half of the 19th century, which enabled the export of oranges to the European markets in days rather than weeks.[5] Another reason cited for the growth of the industry was the relative lack of European control over the cultivation of oranges compared to cotton, formerly a primary commodity crop of Palestine, but outpaced by the Jaffa orange.[6]
Exports grew from 200,000 oranges in 1845 to 38 million oranges by 1870.[5] The citrus plantations of this time were primarily owned by wealthy Palestinian merchants and notables, rather than small farmers, as the fruits required large capital investments with no yield for several years.[3][7] Fruits carrying the "Jaffa" label were first marketed in 1870 by aGerman Templer colony.[8] An 1872 account of Jaffa by a European traveller notes that "Surrounding Jaffa are the orange gardens for which it is justly extolled, and which are a considerable source of wealth to the owners. The annual value of fruits grown in Jaffa was said to be 10,000 pounds."[7] In the 1880s, American growerH. S. Sanford tried to cultivate the Jaffa orange in Florida.[9]
The prosperity of the orange industry brought increased European interest and involvement in the development of Jaffa oranges. In 1902, a study of the growth of the orange industry by officials outlined the different owners and their primary export markets as England, Turkey, Egypt andAustria-Hungary. While the traditional Arabic cultivation methods were considered "primitive," an in-depth study of the financial expenditure involved reveals that they were ultimately more cost-efficient than the Zionist-European enterprises that followed them some two decades later.[7]
According to the 1930Hope Simpson Enquiry, "The cultivation of the orange, introduced by the Arabs before the commencement of Jewish settlement, has developed to a very great extent in consequence of that settlement. There is no doubt that the pitch of perfection to which the technique of plantation and cultivation of the orange and grapefruit have been brought in Palestine is due to the scientific methods of the Jewish agriculturist."[10]
Partnerships in growing and exporting these oranges were an example of Arab–Jewish cooperation despite rising political tensions.[11]
By the end of 1928, Jews had acquired 3,000 hectares (30,000 dunams) of the region's 6,000 hectares (60,000 dunams) of orange orchards. Whereas beforeWorld War I, the price of a dunam of land in a fruitful orange grove was 50–75 pounds sterling, by 1929, the same groves were selling for 150–200 pounds sterling.[12] In 1933, Jewish-owned orange production overtook Arab-owned orange production.[13] By 1939, Jewish-owned and Arab-owned orange orchards in Palestine covered 30,000 hectares (75,000 acres), employed over 100,000 workers, and their produce was a primary export. DuringWorld War II (1939–1945) citrus-growing declined, and Arab-owned orange production overtook Jewish-owned production.[13]
After the1948 war, the orange-growing industry was presented as a "pioneering Labor-movement project" which was "void of any Arab presence".[14] Significant ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Arabs by Jewish Zionists occurred following theNakba between 1947–1948, and theestablishment of the Israeli state in 1948. Many Palestinian Arab–owned farms were subsequently stolen from their owners as part of dispossession of their lands.[15][16][17]
Jaffa oranges are harvested in the Israel and the Palestinian territories between November and March, with the marketing season beginning in September and extending through April. More than half the annual crop is exported, and Israel is the main provider of other citrus fruits to theEuropean Union.[18] In the 1950s and 1960s, Jaffa oranges became emblems and symbols of the Israeli state.[19] A general decline in the importance of agriculture to the Israeli economy, extreme limits on available water resources, and the reliance onmigrant laborers have reduced productivity.[20] Overshadowed by manufacturing industries, such as diamonds and precision instruments, Israel nonetheless continues to export a large number of citrus fruits to Europe.[21]
TheJaffa orange is also known for lending the city ofTel Aviv-Yafo the nickname "Big Orange".[22]
The orange is also a symbol for Palestinians;[23]The Land of Sad Oranges (Arabic: أرض البرتقال الحزين) is the title of a famous story by Palestinian journalist and writerGhassan Kanafani, that explores theNakba through the eyes of a young child who lived and grew up in an orange grove in Palestine. The orange is utilized as a strong symbol for the Palestinians' connection with their lands and the immense losses they suffered.[24]
.jpg)
