When buying oranges, should you choose ones with a big or small “navel”? Here are 4 tips to pick super-sweet oranges

Do you know how to choose delicious, sweet, thin-skinned oranges? Try the following four tips to become a smart shopper!

Navel oranges are a very nutritious fruit with a high vitamin C content. Eating navel oranges can bring many health benefits such as reducing oiliness, cleansing the intestines, preventing kidney stones, and relieving stress, especially for women. When choosing watermelons or melons, people often look at the “navel” to judge whether the fruit is sweet and tasty. However, for this type of orange, the navel does not indicate whether the orange is good or not, or whether it is sour or sweet. Below are four very accurate ways to choose delicious, sweet oranges.

1. Shape of the fruit

When buying oranges, the first thing that catches your eye is the shape. You should choose oranges that are slightly oval in shape, medium in size, and fairly uniform. Avoid oranges with a pointed tip. A protruding pointed tip indicates that the peel does not cling closely to the flesh, resulting in a thicker pith and lack of moisture. Such oranges are often dry and not tasty when cut open.

2. Color of the fruit

For navel oranges, those with a deep reddish-orange color are usually sweeter than those with a pale orange color. You should not choose oranges that look yellowish, as these are often not fully ripe; the flesh is less sweet, the flavor is inferior, and they are not as fragrant as properly ripe oranges.

3. The peel

When choosing oranges, besides looking at them, you should also pick them up and feel the peel. Good oranges not only have smooth skin, but the small pores on the peel are also fine and even. When you press the fruit with your hand, it should feel soft and elastic. Do not choose oranges with rough skin, large and dense pores, or a hard feel with little elasticity when pressed. These usually have thick, dry peels and are not tasty to eat.

4. Aroma of the fruit

In addition to looking at the shape and feeling the surface, you should also smell the fruit. If it has a strong fruity aroma that feels pleasant, refreshing, and fresh, you should buy it right away—this is a good orange. If the fruit has little fragrance or an unpleasant smell, it may have been stored for too long, treated with preservatives, or still contain a lot of pesticide residue.

You should avoid buying such oranges to ensure food safety. To be extra sure, you can ask the seller to cut one open to taste. If it’s good, choose other oranges that look similar to the one that was cut.

In short, when buying navel oranges, you don’t need to pay too much attention to the navel itself—just make sure it doesn’t protrude too much. Instead, follow the tips above by looking at the shape, color, peel, and aroma. That way, you can easily choose delicious, sweet, juicy, and high-quality oranges.