Juices incorporating early season orange cultivars

A method of preparing not from concentrate orange juice from oranges, comprising the steps of:

• harvesting fruit of a very early season orange cultivar having juice with sensory characteristics superior to juice extracted from Hamlin oranges and an early season color which has a Color Number which is at least about 1 CN greater than that of corresponding early season color of juice extracted from Hamlin oranges;
• extracting juice from a plurality of the very early season orange cultivar fruit of the harvesting step, said extracting occurring during an extraction time period which is early in the orange growing season;
• collecting the juice from the extracting step in order to provide an orange juice source having a Color Number of at least 33 CN units;
• and
• blending at least about 5 volume percent, based on the volume of the orange juice, of said juice from the extracting step with another juice in order to provide a not from concentrate orange juice product having a Color Number in excess of 33 CN units and a sensory profile superior to that of 100 percent Hamlin juice.

A method of preparing not from concentrate orange juice from oranges, comprising the steps of:

• harvesting an orange cultivar fruit selected from the group consisting of Westin cultivars, Ruby Nucellar cultivars, Itaborai cultivars, and combinations thereof;
• extracting juice from a volume of said orange cultivar fruit;
• collecting the resulting extracted orange juice as an early season orange juice source having a Color Number of at least 33 CN units;
• combining the extracted early season orange juice from said extracting step with another juice in order to provide a not from concentrate orange juice product having at least about 5 volume percent of said early season orange juice, based on the total volume of the juice;
• and
• said not from concentrate orange juice has a sensory green character superior to that of said another juice.

A method of preparing not from concentrate orange juice from oranges, comprising the steps of:

• harvesting fruit of an orange cultivar which provides juice during the months of October and November having a sensory profile superior to that of juice provided by Hamlin oranges during the months of October and November, respectively, and having a Color Number which is more intense than juice provided by Hamlin oranges during the months of October and November, respectively;
• extracting juice from the orange cultivar of the selecting step, said extracting occurring during an extraction time period which is very early in the orange harvesting season;
• collecting the juice from the extracting step in order to provide an orange juice source having a Color Number of at least 33 CN units;
• and
• blending said juice from the extracting step with another juice in order to provide an orange juice product having a sensory profile superior to that of said Hamlin juice and a color value in excess of 33 CN units.

A not from concentrate orange juice prepared in accordance with a process comprising the steps of:

• harvesting a very early season orange cultivar having juice with early season color of greater intensity than Hamlin orange juice while also exhibiting sensory qualities superior to the sensory qualities of Hamlin orange juice, said harvesting step including selecting a cultivar within the Seleta family of cultivars, a Westin cultivar, a Ruby Nucellar cultivar, or a combination of these very early season cultivars;
• extracting juice from a volume of said very early season oranges of said harvesting step;
• collecting the resulting extracted orange juice as an early season orange juice having a Color Number of at least 33 CN units;
• and
• blending at least about 5 volume percent, based on the total volume of the juice, of said extracted early season orange juice with another orange juice source in order to provide a not from concentrate orange juice product having a Color Number in excess of 33 CN units and sensory qualities which are superior to said another orange juice source.

A not from concentrate orange juice prepared in accordance with a process comprising the steps of:

• harvesting fruit of a very early season orange cultivar having juice with an early season color which has a Color Number which is at least about 1 CN greater than that of corresponding early season color of juice extracted from Hamlin oranges, while also exhibiting sensory qualities superior to the sensory qualities of Hamlin orange juice, said superior sensory qualities including a reduced green character;
• extracting juice from a plurality of the very early season orange cultivar of the harvesting step, said extracting occurring during an extraction time period which is early in the orange growing season;
• collecting the juice from the extracting step in order to provide an orange juice source having a Color Number of at least 33 CN units;
• and
• blending at least about 5 volume percent of said juice from the extracting step with another juice in order to provide a not from concentrate orange juice product having a Color Number in excess of 33 CN units and improved sensory characteristics.

A not from concentrate orange juice composition comprising a blend of:

• at least about 1 percent by volume of an orange juice supply, based upon the total volume of the composition;
• up to about 99 volume percent of a very early season fresh orange juice, based upon the total volume of the composition, said very early season juice having a sensory profile superior to that of 100 percent Hamlin orange juice from fruit harvested at about the same time as fruit from which said very early season juice originates;
• and
• said fruit from which the very early season fresh orange juice originates is an early season round orange cultivar selected from the group consisting of a cultivar within the Seleta family of cultivars, a Westin cultivar, a Ruby Nucellar cultivar, or a combination of these early season cultivars.

A method of preparing an orange juice product incorporating an early season orange cultivar, comprising the steps of:

• harvesting a very early season orange cultivar having juice with early season color of greater intensity than Hamlin orange juice while also exhibiting sensory qualities superior to the sensory qualities of Hamlin orange juice, said harvesting step including selecting a cultivar within the Seleta family of cultivars, or a combination of these very early season cultivars;
• extracting juice from a volume of said very early season oranges of said harvesting step;
• collecting the resulting extracted orange juice as an early season orange juice having a Color Number of at least 33 CN units;
• and
• blending at least about 5 volume percent, based on the total volume of the orange juice, of said extracted early season orange juice with another orange juice source in-order to provide an orange juice product having an enhanced sensory profile and a Color Number in excess of 33 CN units.

An orange juice prepared in accordance with a process comprising the steps of:

• harvesting fruit of a very early season orange cultivar of the Seleta family of cultivars, said cultivar having juice with an early season color which has a Color Number which is at least about 1 CN greater than that of corresponding early season color of juice extracted from Hamlin oranges, while also exhibiting sensory qualities superior to the sensory qualities of Hamlin orange juice, said superior sensory qualities including a reduced green character;
• extracting juice from a plurality of the very early season orange cultivar of the harvesting step, said extracting occurring during an extraction time period which is early in the orange growing season;
• collecting the juice from the extracting step in order to provide an orange,juice source having a Color Number of at least 33 CN units;
• and
• blending at least about 5 volume percent of said juice from the extracting step with another juice in order to provide a not from concentrate orange juice product having a Color Number in excess of 33 CN units and improved sensory characteristics.

An orange juice composition comprising a blend of:

• at least about 1 percent by volume of an orange juice supply, based upon the total volume of the composition;
• up to about 99 volume percent of a very early season orange juice supply, based upon the total volume of the composition, said very early season juice having a sensory profile superior to that of 100 percent Hamlin orange juice from fruit harvested at about the same time as fruit from which said very early season juice originates;
• and
• said fruit from which the very early season fresh orange juice originates is an early season round orange cultivar selected from within the Seleta family of cultivars, or a combination of these early season cultivars.