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Purple Orange

kamalktk

Antediluvian
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
7,168
Purple orange, musician Prince seen wondering about the rain conditions where it grew.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-...ple-being-cut-open-taken-for-testing/10208612
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Forensic testing is underway to determine exactly why an orange purchased at a Brisbane fruit and veg shop turned purple hours after it was cut open.

Keperra resident Neti Moffitt cut up the orange on Tuesday as a snack for her two-year-old son.

It looked fine, smelt fine, and the three slices he sucked on were later binned. The rest of the orange was left out on the kitchen counter overnight.

On Wednesday morning, Ms Moffitt woke up to find the remaining fruit was part orange, part purple.

10209192-3x2-940x627.jpg
 
This is the second time it's been known to happen. The same thing was reported in Queensland back in 2015, when the forensic tests cited in the news article were run.

I noticed something in the photos included with the Daily Mail version of the news item:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...fied-oranges-mysteriously-turning-purple.html

The DM photos seem to illustrate a progression of the discoloration, and it appears to start primarily in or adjacent to the rind.
 
As to theories ...

The final stage photos bear a resemblance to the flesh of blood oranges, which darkens during maturation in response to cool temperatures. This made me wonder if these mass market oranges had some blood orange DNA or something along that line. I've ruled this angle out for now.

The orange slices were left out overnight on a kitchen counter. None of the accounts I've seen specify whether they were covered. This makes me wonder whether the color change represents a chemical reaction from contact with (e.g.) insects who've taken a taste during the nighttime hours.
 
Edit: a more sensible suggestion might be something to do with Anthocyanins and changing pH?

(Not a chemist or botanist)

I wasn't a million miles out:

The results revealed that anthocyanins - a naturally occurring antioxidant in oranges - had reacted with iron particles from the newly sharpened blade, he said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-45648299
 
This is the second time it's been known to happen. The same thing was reported in Queensland back in 2015, when the forensic tests cited in the news article were run.

I noticed something in the photos included with the Daily Mail version of the news item:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...fied-oranges-mysteriously-turning-purple.html

The DM photos seem to illustrate a progression of the discoloration, and it appears to start primarily in or adjacent to the rind.


Very bizarre... but I noticed the date of the DM article... 1 April... o_O
 
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