Blood orange cultivars and cultivation in the United States

Blood oranges have been cultivated in the United States since the late 1860s.
The most important cultivars grown through the mid-20^th century were ‘Malta Blood’ and ‘Ruby’. In 1930 Howard Fawcett of the University of California Citrus Experiment Station collected budwood of ‘Moro’ and ‘Tarocco’ in Sicily, but clean budwood of these cultivars was introduced in California only in 1976 and 1982, respectively.
The availability of these elite cultivars, increased interest in specialty fruits, and a taste for blood oranges by Americans who had traveled to Europe encouraged commercial plantings.
By 1990 about 200 ha of blood oranges were cultivated in California, and this remained fairly stable for the next quarter-century.
Blood orange cultivation increased in the past decade because of their attractive coloration, demand from food service, and reputed beneficial health effects.
In 2024, 730 ha of blood oranges were grown in California, mostly in the San Joaquin Valley from Bakersfield to north of Fresno, where relatively cold winters favor anthocyanin accumulation.
The principal cultivars are ‘Moro’, ‘Tarocco #7’, and ‘Sanguinelli’. Two cultivars that appear to have originated in California, ‘Smith Red’ and ‘Shahani Red’, have been released by the University of California, Riverside.
Historically blood oranges have not been cultivated on a significant scale in Florida, but recently interest has increased in northern Florida and southern Georgia.
In a survey of United States citrus breeders, 6 of 12 said they aim to develop new anthocyanin-pigmented cultivars.

XV International Citrus Congress

D. Karp, T. Siebert Wooldridge, K. Trunnelle, T. Kahn

anthocyanin, Citrus sinensis L., citrus, mutations, breeding

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2026.1448.97