Division B Maturity requirementsF1

United Kingdom

The citrus fruit must have reached an appropriate degree of development and ripeness, account being taken of criteria proper to the variety, the time of picking and the growing area.

Maturity of citrus fruit is defined by the following parameters specified for each species below:

minimum juice content,
minimum sugar/acid ratio^f1,
colouring.

The degree of colouring shall be such that following normal development the citrus fruit reach the colour typical of the variety at their destination point.

	Minimum juice content (per cent)	Minimum sugar/acid ratio	Colouring
For the varieties Mandora and Minneola the minimum sugar/acid ratio is 6,0:1 until the end of the marketing year commencing 1 January 2023.
Lemons	20		Must be typical of the variety. Fruit with a green (but not dark green) colour is allowed, provided it satisfies the minimum requirements as to juice content
Satsumas, clementines, other mandarin varieties and their hybrids
Satsumas	33	6,5:1	Must be typical of the variety on at least one third of the surface of the fruit
Clementines	40	7,0:1
Other mandarin varieties and their hybrids	33	7,5:1 ^f2
Oranges
Blood oranges	30	6,5:1	Must be typical of the variety. However, fruit with light green colour not exceeding one fifth of the total surface area of the fruit is allowed, provided it satisfies the minimum requirements as to juice content. Oranges produced in areas with high temperatures and high relative humidity conditions during the developing period having a green colour exceeding one fifth of the surface area of the fruit are allowed, provided they satisfy the minimum requirements as to juice content.
Navels group	33	6,5:1
Other varieties	35	6,5:1
Mosambi, Sathgudi and Pacitan with more than one fifth green colour	33
Other varieties with more than one fifth green colour	45

Citrus fruit meeting these maturity requirements may be ‘degreened’. This treatment is only permitted if the other natural organoleptic characteristics are not modified.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1: Substituted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/428 of 12 July 2018 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 as regards marketing standards in the fruit and vegetables sector.

Footnotes

f1: Calculated as described in the OECD guidance on objective tests, available at: http://www.oecd.org/agriculture/fruit-vegetables/publications.
f2: For the varieties Mandora and Minneola the minimum sugar/acid ratio is 6,0:1 until the end of the marketing year commencing 1 January 2023.