De-Greening (Gassing)

• By law, oranges must be fully mature when harvested in the United States, but some may exhibit yellow-green skins
  • Three levels of maturity must be met before harvesting
    • Juice content
    • Brix percentage (sugars)
    • Citric acid levels
• When necessary, ethylene gas is applied to oranges to change the rind color from yellow or green to orange
  • The process of applying ethylene gas is known as de-greening, gassing, or curing
  • Ethylene gas only helps with the outside skin color, it does not change any other characteristics of the orange
• The length of the de-greening process depends on skin color upon harvest
• Currently, California Navel oranges are being de-greened 96 to 120 hours

Please contact your Markon Account Manager for more information.

©2025 Markon Cooperative, Inc. All rights reserved.