Those of us who are diabetic (or just on a strict diet) miss our glass of freshly squeezed orange juice every morning... but what if there was a way to have fresh orange *without* the sugar?
Well, the obvious answer of somehow removing the sugar has to be a non-starter, because it would be an expensive process that I'm sure would would ruin the fresh taste if it were even possible.
No, the answer is much simpler... the orange trees in South Texas farms are actually grafts from sweet orange trees onto hardy native sour orange stock. But every now and then the base plant sprouts a branch that isn't trimmed back and you can get a few of the native sour oranges.
All that 'sour' means is there's hardly any natural sugar in these. So... if you squeeze them, and then add a good sugar substitute such as Sucralose (aka Splenda), then you have regular sweet orange juice without the sugar!
Of course the marketing guys will have to come up with a better name than 'sour oranges', for instance "natural low-sugar oranges' :-)
G-- gtoal, Jan 10 2008 Optical isomers http://en.wikipedia...iki/Optical_isomersPossible approach. [8th of 7, Jan 10 2008] Patent to separate sugar from juices and product. http://www.patentst...5403604-claims.htmlThe fruit juice sugars have been reduced by a membrane separation process wherein the fruit juice retains substantially all of the characteristics of natural juice with the exception that the sugar content is reduced by at least about 50 percent. [pyggy potamus, Jan 10 2008] Glycemic Index and Pre/Type 2 Diabetes. http://www.pcos.ins.../glycemic_index.phpControl of blood-sugar is essential to the management of Diabetes. A low GI diet helps the management of blood sugar by preventing "spikes" in the amount of glucose and insulin in your bloodstream and keeping it within normal healthy range. [pyggy potamus, Jan 10 2008] Rangpur Lime http://images.googl...safe%3Doff%26sa%3DNLooks like an Orange, but not sweet [csea, Jan 11 2008] This is the one that grows in South Texas http://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Bitter_orangeBitter Orange on Wikipedia [gtoal, Jan 28 2008] Seville Oranges in South Texas http://texas-chef.b..._11_01_archive.htmlPhotos of oranges in So Tx [gtoal, Jan 28 2008] Citrus Fruits http://neptune.luna...c1/stuff/citrus.htmNice delineation [csea, Feb 01 2008] How about "low calorie Orange Juice". Bun(+)-- MisterQED, Jan 10 2008 All you have to do is change the isomer to d-Fructose, chemically the same but you can't digest it.-- 8th of 7, Jan 10 2008 You'll do this conversion how, exactly? And then you have a generous amount of osmotically active solute running through your intestines. I use the word 'running' advisedly.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 10 2008 We didn't say we'd drink it ... we just said it could be done ......-- 8th of 7, Jan 10 2008 orange has a low rating of 44 on the GI scale.
When eaten in normal or even large quantities, fruits and vegetables contain such small amounts of carbohydrate that they have little or no measurable effect on blood sugar levels. Therefore, they should be eaten freely as the nutrients they contain provide immense health benefits.-- pyggy potamus, Jan 10 2008 The sugar content of orange juice is typically around 10%, and most of it is sucrose (the same as the sugar you put in your coffee). Coca cola is around 11% sugar, again mostly sucrose. Diabetics therefore do need to be cautious about drinking orange juice, and even eating fruit.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 10 2008 [MaxwellBuchanan] i wasn't recommending that diabetics drink popular commercial orange juices, they have added sugar to make it more palatable.
i believe [gtoal]'s idea is to develop a hybrid orange - and i only wanted to tell him/her that the orange we have now, is perfectly ok for diabetics to drink [if you have a juicer at home, go crazy with it].
diabetics are recommended to have 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day.-- pyggy potamus, Jan 11 2008 //We didn't say we'd drink it ... we just said it could be done ......// Ha!-- pertinax, Jan 11 2008 // commercial orange juices, they have added sugar to make it more palatable.// Actually, fresh orange juice has a sugar content of around 10% (though this is doubtless variable). At least in the UK, all the orange juices I've seen have no added sugar.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 11 2008 The idea is to make orange juice from oranges native to South Texas, and adding a sweetener (Sucralose was used as an example) to make the taste comparable to juice made from sweet oranges, and then sell the juice.-- BJS, Jan 11 2008 //The sugar content of orange juice is typically around 10%, and most of it is sucrose// - really? - I thought it was fructose, but I could be wrong.-- hippo, Jan 11 2008 [BJS] yes, I appreciate the idea and it is sound. My point was that "regular" orange juice is indeed high in sugar, as [gtoal] originally stated.
[hippo] there's some fructose, but it's mainly sucrose as far as I know. I'm not sure if it makes much difference anyway, since either should be converted to glucose upon digestion (though I may be wrong here).-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 11 2008 I think you should all be researching the facts (though I may be wrong).-- po, Jan 11 2008 Researching the facts is cheating, Po. However, I did cheat a little and found the following on a diabetes website: "it will not hurt you to drink orange juice everyday, but remember that it contains much sugar and must be allowed for in your meal plan." In other words, it has to be reckoned as part of your sugar intake, just like any other form of digestible sugar. I presume from the post that Gtoal is a diabetic, and therefore knows what he can and can't accommodate in his diet.
Of course, my usual disclaimer (ie, I tend to talk bollocks) applies.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 11 2008 If you're after a fruit that look like an orange, but is not sweet, consider the Rangpur Lime [link]. Tasty!-- csea, Jan 11 2008 csea: the rangpur lime (aka tangerine) is very similar to the bitter orange we have here, which I believe is actually a "seville orange". Links posted to the wikipedia entry, and someone's blog with photos (scroll down)-- gtoal, Jan 28 2008 I'll bun this if you ever come across an artificial sweetener that is even remotely palatable.
Bonus points if you can find one that has a chance of meeting your //to make the taste comparable to juice made from sweet oranges// statement.-- Custardguts, Jan 31 2008 [gtoal] The Rangpur lime is not a tangerine, but a primary varient hybrid between the mandarin orange and the lime.
Claims to be very cold-hardy [link] (#12).-- csea, Feb 01 2008 // I'll bun this if you ever come across an artificial sweetener that is even remotely palatable. //
I take it Sucralose is not to your liking? It's the first sweetener I've been happy with, though "Coke Zero" comes close even though it uses Ace-K...-- gtoal, Feb 23 2008 Oranges. Yes. An Important Part of this Incredibly Incomplete Diet for Recent Diabetics. (Which Seems to be Working, Although I have Reached the Point where I may Starve to Death on the Morrow and Not Really Care...)
Tomorrow I can have an orange. Or a banana. Or 5 baby carrots. I think I'll have the orange, because if I miss it tomorrow it'll be a Green instead of an Orange on the next occasion when it becomes permitted.
Sorry, was I rambling? <goes back to sniffing inside of empty bread bag>-- lurch, Feb 18 2009 I forgot to mention - last year I got my hands on some South Texas bitter oranges and doped them up with Splenda... I found it quite drinkable but my wife did not - those oranges have an abnormally high acid content that the Splenda did not totally overpower. I didn't mind it but de gustibus...
If the acid could be neutralised safely and easily (eg by adding some alkali and having a neutral compound such as chalk precipitate out - and I bet its easier to remove acid than to remove sugar...) then I'd say this is a winner. Especially since there is now a pest in Texas (Citrus Greening disease) decimating the orange groves and turning the regular orange crop bitter as well.-- gtoal, Jun 28 2016 random, halfbakery