Honeybell Oranges: Jewel of the Orient
Honeybell oranges likely formed the roots of the earliest citrus fruits that, through the centuries, worked their way to the American continent. By its current popularity and diverse uses throughout the world, the honeybell orange was no doubt used for much the same thing back then, from medicine or as a medicinal application to aphrodisiacal purposes to a delicacy to flavoring to a means of air freshening as fragrance to home décor enhancement. This seems interesting in that honeybell oranges are used and applied in the same way now—and in a land far from the land from which they came. Their appeal is far-reaching and long-lasting.
Despite the vast number of centuries beforehand, however, honeybell oranges were first legally distributed in as late as 1931, when the Department of Agriculture-Horticulture Research Station in Orlando, Florida first approved and allowed the distribution of honeybell oranges to the public for consumption along with other popular citrus fruits like grapefruits. That’s a point in recent history when the farming industry took off, especially in that state.
Still, one has to ask: What were these fruits used for previous to this point? Surely, the honeybell orange was known prior to 1931. Is it possible that the fruit’s use was restricted to other non-nutritional purposes? Why so? Why weren’t honeybell oranges considered for nutritional value as far as agricultural and horticultural research were concerned? Weren’t citrus fruits consumed and relished without worry during earlier periods?
In any case, the honeybell orange has endured an extremely interesting journey and continues to contribute to human pleasure in its many forms.In modern times, the honeybell orange, will likely add yet another dimension to its growing influence that of initiating research into the further details of its history, such as the nuances of ancient Asian culture through the centuries as related to the honeybell orange.
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