Vaniglia Sanguigno Acidless Pigmented Sweet Orange Budwood

Citrus sinensis.

This is a pink fleshed (lycopene) sweet orange; very sweet, almost acidless. Pink color is in albedo and flesh next to rind only. Flavor is very insipid, virtually acidless. Sugar-acid ratio in January was 54/1.

Vaniglia Sanguigno is an acidless sweet orange with a pink flesh pigmented by lycopene, a carotenoid. The tree is small to medium-sized at maturity with a round form. The round fruit is medium in size, seedy, with a smooth orange rind of medium thickness. The flesh adjacent to the albedo is pink, and this pink pigmentation often extends to the interior of the fruit, especially in the vicinity of the section membranes. Because of its lack of acidity, the fruit can be eaten as early as late fall or early winter. The fruit is very juicy and is especially prized by Middle Eastern people.

Fruit medium-small to medium, subglobose to spherical; small apical depression; seedy.  Rind medium-thick and finely to moderately pebbled.  Well-colored at maturity.  Juicy and sweet flavored but lacking in acid and with slight bitterness, though eating quality generally improves with age.  Very early in maturity.

Tree vigorous, medium-sized, and very productive.

In Italy, this variety is very old and is thought to be of local origin.  Because of its insipidly sweet and faintly bitter taste, the demand for Vainiglia is said to be very limited and entirely local.

Of special horticultural interest is the presumption that it gave rise to the unique, pink-fleshed, non-acid Vainiglia Sanguigno variety, which is not a true blood orange.

Rootstocks of accession:  Carrizo citrange.

Season of ripeness at Riverside, California:  November to March.

Prepared by the Givaudan Citrus Variety Collection at The University of California Riverside.