General Question

flo's avatar

Is there any difference between the pith of a regular orange and GMO orange?

Asked by flo (7794 points ) June 19th, 2012

The white part between the rind and the flesh of the orange the (Pith) is supposed to be very healthy. Do you detect a difference between the non-GMO and GMO orange pith healthwise?

Is it only the pith of orange that is healthy for you or all the citrus fruits?

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8 Answers

ETpro's avatar

Tough question. The fact is that humans have been messing with citrus fruits and cross-breeding them since prehistoric times. The thing we know as an orange today is a result of a cross, probably between a pomelo and a mandarin. There are hundreds of cultivars today, all the process of human tampering with their gene pool. All that’s really changed is the speed with which the breeding process proceeds, and the predictability of the results. That said, there are no GMO oranges currently approved for sale in the US food supply.

As with most citrus fruits, the flesh of the orange is both tasty and full of vitamin C. The peeling is also edible and is an even better source of vitamins as well as dietary fiber. However, commercial growing often leaves the peelings saturated with pesticides. If you plan to use the peeling as food, you should limit your shopping to organically grown fruit. In fact, GMO fruit may hold out a hope of bring fruit to our tables pesticide free. Current research in GMO oranges is aimed at producing insect and blight resistance, and trees that will tolerate temporary freezes.

flo's avatar

@ETpro Wow, ”The thing we know as an orange today is a result of a cross, probably between a pomelo and a mandarin.pomelo and a mandarin”. Interesting I never suspected that.

I like that GMO produce last and last but should it “freak me out” as they say, that no insect wants to come near them?

I wanted to also know if they tested all the citrus fruits and only found the valuable stuff is in the pith of the orange or they do they not have the data yet about the rest?

Is Dupont the only competition for Monsanto?

flo's avatar

I just found out It is not just the orange

ETpro's avatar

@flo There will be intensive testing of the safety of any GMO fruit. You can keep pests away from a fruit more readily by changing some attractant in the fruit than by trying to breed in natural pesticides, because the pests just evolve to tolerate whatever antagonist you breed into their food. My guess is they will be safer than heavily treated fruits are today. But time will tell.

Read my response again. The valuable stuff is not just in the flesh of the orange. There’s actually more in the rind. But there are commercial pesticides that soak into the rind as well. If you plan to consume the rind, always buy organically grown fruit.

As to what companies are researching it, I do not know.

flo's avatar

@ETproThe valuable stuff is not just in the flesh of the orange” By “flesh” I thought you were referring to the carpel. Okay. Thanks.
I am more interested whether or not the pesticides go through the rind into the pith or not, but I guess not. Thanks.

ETpro's avatar

@flo Apparently, they do not.

flo's avatar

Yes. I see the Grapefruit in the clean list.

I wish this list was much longer or even better, open ended.

And @ETpro would you tell me why the highlighting would refuse to apply to the numbers? I tried it more than once, it just highlighted the words. But then after I did the pasting here, I see it did get copied.
The Dirty Dozen for 2011 – Buy these organic
6.Nectarines– imported
7.Grapes – imported
8.Sweet bell peppers
10.Blueberries– domestic
12.Kale/collard greens
The Clean 15 – Lowest in Pesticide
2.Sweet Corn
6.Sweet peas
9.Cantaloupe- domestic
13.Sweet potatoes

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