Orange Oil (Brazil)

Orange oil is extracted by simple pressure from the outer coloured part of the Citrus sinensis‘ peel. Oranges are widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical climates for the sweet fruit and commercially for essential oil extraction.

Orange oil is a by-product of the juice industry. Oil is cold pressed from the peel of the fruit, after juice extraction and is widely used across the flavour and fragrance industry. Sweet orange (citrus sinensis) is around 90% d’limonene, a product used across many more industries. Approximately 40% of global oranges are processed for juice and oil with 60% solely used as a fresh fruit for consumption.

Brazil has the largest production of fresh oranges and also it processes more orange than any other country making it the largest producer of orange oil and d’limonene (orange terpenes) in the world. Harvesting can be almost 12 months of the year due to the widespread distribution of plantations, however it is unusual for any significant production during February – April. Therefore we usually consider May – December as a typical harvesting period.

Brazilian oranges make up for around 34% of the world market – approximately 17 million tons+/- from a global estimate of 50 million tons +/- of fresh fruit. The Brazilian state of São Paulo contributes around 80% of the country’s production figures.

It’s been a challenging time of late for the world’s largest producing country and they’re forecasting a sharp reduction of 18.3% in the total 2016/17 crop. To read more about today’s conditions click here.

You may have recently read in our Market reports details of the challenges faced by the industry due to Citrus Greening. Click here for more details of the global impact of this wide spreading disease.