True Or False

[Millet]

True or False: When trying to purchasing the best tasting citrus fruit, you should buy the heaviest fruit for its size. - Millet

(Miscellaneous fact)  For 1.5 million American farms, less than 25 percent of household income came from their farm.

[Tom]

My guess is true especially heavy on the small size. I've had some huge stuff that was heavy but no flavor!
Tom

[jcaldeira]

Hmmm. . . My guess is that heavier fruit is better, as sugar (soluble solids) is heavier than water and it might indicate a sweeter fruit.  At least the heavier juice should be sweeter.  That's my guess and I'm sticking to it for now.

[starling1]

I'm going to say false, on no other basis other than I ate some spectacular light mandarins recently.

[Mike T]

Certainly false with mandarins and probably pomelos.The fabulous emperor and even imperial mandarins are classic examples of this. Weight for size ratio has more to do with juice content and pith abundance than taste so it may be true within a variety when ripeness is discounted.The same variety grown in the tropics will probably be denser due to the thinner pith and it will have a lower acid content as well, most of the time.

I think the answer is only as good as the question and will need variety and location caveats.

[Doglips]

If you go apples to apples, two fruit from the same tree. give me the heavier one.

[Millet]

Its true. When looking for any type of citrus, you have to check for fruits that are heavy for their size and category. You have to look for skins that are bright and colorful. It is best to avoid purchasing fruits that have bruises or have what is considered wrinkled skin, as this may be a sign that the fruit has been sitting at your grocer's for quite sometime.
Millet
Miscellaneous fact) - 0.4 percent of all American farms had agricultural sales of more than $5,000,000.00.  These farms produced 32 percent of the total value of all agricultural products sold.

[jcaldeira]

What is the scientific basis for heavier citrus being better?  Has anyone actually tested this?

Older dried out fruit will have air pockets, and thicker rind probably weighs less, and water lighter than soluble solids. Is it one of these or something else that makes heavier fruit better?

[Millet]

One of the few things that produce picking experts agree on is that most (though certainly not all) produce should feel heavy in your hand. This is very much the case for oranges. The heavier the fruit, the juicier the inside will be and is that not the whole point of  oranges, to be juicy? Less weighty oranges could indicate that the fruit inside has not only dried out some, but may not be sweet. Nobody likes a tasteless bag of oranges.

Millet

[Mike T]

Loose skinned mandarins are generally sweeter and better quality.They are much prefered by consumers but are comparatively lighter.It sure wasn't the case for wafer thin skinned minneolas that felt like bricks but were tasteless. When the skin is highly coloured in my area citrus are often past their prime.On the same tree,at the same stage of ripeness the heavier one being better is probably correct. Light oranges are often more indicative of pith thickness than dryness and the point of orange juice is as much about sweetness.Of course bruised fruit should be avoided but loose skinned mandarins like emperor are superior most of the time. I might have to post some pix to illustrate this.

[Riverland]

Skins that are bright and colourful indicate they have been degreened, bathed, waxed and polished.

[Millet]

Mike and Riverland , the points that you both have made might be true in Australia, I really don't know.  But well colored rind in the USA indicates high quality.  Growers in the tropics  have a very difficult time obtaining well colored oranges as there is not enough cool weather to degrade the green chlorophyll pigmentation.    Thanks for your comments. - Millet

[Millet]

Personally, I also stay from prepackaged oranges.  I find that they are of a lower quality. - Millet

[laidbackdood]

I always go for "Big is good" for any fruit.......if mandarins have a massive dimple in the middle/and the deeper it goes.......i will buy them.........my mrs will often pick mandarins in the store and the ones i pick always test better than what she picks.....I go for deep orange and big and especially US washington navel(they are the best orange thats imported to the southern hemisphere.)