I keep a lot of fruit in my pantry and every now and then I’ll get a bit of mold growing on one or two oranges.

So, I was curious about whether it’s dangerous to eat an orange with mold on it since I normally just throw it away.

I looked at the advice of medical professionals and a few health sites and here’s what I found.

As a general rule, mold on oranges is considerable inedible and therefore dangerous.

Some people report that you could simply peel away or cut off the mold on the basis that it hasn’t penetrated the edible flesh of the orange, but I tend to just throw it straight in the bin. If it is present anywhere one flesh of the orange then that’s a no-brainer – it’s an absolute must for the garbage.

Below, I will explain everything there is to know about mold growing on oranges, such as whether a moldy orange will ruin the rest, and why mold grows quickly.

It’s common that mold will grow on the peel of the orange, and will be white, light green, and even black.

However, is it OK to eat an orange that has mold on the peel?

Generally, you can eat an orange that has mold on the peel as long as its full removed, cleaned or cut away.

When it is growing on the peel only and does not go all the way through the skin the flesh will be the same as a fresh orange.

The one exception is when the mold has penetrated the peel and is growing into the orange.

Mold goes hand in hand with the orange shrinking, and the skin becoming more soft.

Generally, by this stage, the orange has a vinegary taste that isn’t very nice to eat.

But, if the orange is still quite fresh but has a bit of mold growing on the surface of the peel, then you can wipe it off in some cases.

Or, simply peel it carefully by leaving a rim of fresh peel around the mold.

And then lifting it off as one piece very gently. As you lift it off you may notice that the mold has actually affected the surface of the flesh, and has made it slightly brown.

Or, has eaten into the flesh. When that happens it’s best to throw the whole orange away, according to medical professional Dr. Hassan.

But, in my opinion, many doctors will recommend the safest option, which can be a bit over the top.

For example, I have regularly removed a piece of rotting flesh from orange and eaten the rest.

And never got sick.

However, it is a bit of a balancing act because sometimes the mold can affect the whole orange and it tastes bad even the part that isn’t moldy.

Washing the mold off an orange where possible is perfectly fine. Mold will use the nutrients in the skin to grow so the skin can have patches that are scoured out.

However, if you catch it early it won’t have altered the skin much at all. But, it can sometimes be easier to simply peel the orange.

However, if you’re saving the oranges for another day then wiping off the mold will stunt the mold’s growth.

And your oranges will last longer. You can wipe it off with a dishcloth or a paper towel.

Usually, you’ll need to do a few passes to wipe away all of it.

And running it under the tap can also help to remove as much of it as possible.

Once I kept some oranges in a bowl on the countertop and within about 1 week they started to grow mold.

It was much faster than usual, so I wanted to know how to keep mold from growing on my oranges.

Overall, mold thrives in humid conditions.

There can also be more mold spores present in the air for a range of reasons.

Therefore, the mold will easily settle on the oranges and have a good environment to grow well.

You may have noticed in humid States like Hawaii and Florida mold grows very easily even curtain and clothing that isn’t wet.

The best way to keep mold from growing on fruit so fast is to keep it in the fridge. Fruits will typically last 7 to 14 days (1 to 2 weeks) on the countertop or in your pantry.

And in the refrigerator they can last 30 days or more. There is also the option to freeze fruit, however, it does take away the texture of the orange.

I wrote about how to freeze fruit in this – can you freeze fruit article.

There are a few tricks to make sure you don’t get freezer burn.

Sometimes it seems like when one fruit starts getting a bit of mold it starts to quickly spread to the other ones.

But, is that how it works?

As a whole, once mold spores begin growing on one orange, the spores will be released into the air, and settle on the other oranges.

Since, the mold is already established the new spores will have an easy time growing as well.

So, the bottomline is that the mold produces more spores which will settle on the other fruits.

Also, the original spores that landed on the first orange, can have landed first. But, maybe the next day or two more mold spores landed on the other oranges.

And as a result, the mold started growing on the other oranges a few days later.

Oranges are high in vitamin C, and certain varieties can be very sweet and delicious.

But, I was curious when you shouldn’t eat an orange. Here’s what I found.

An orange should not be consumed if it has a bad odor or taste, and has mold growing in the flesh of the orange. When an orange has a bad odor or tastes it is past the point of being ripe and is now breaking down into compost.

Oranges will fruit and become ripe at different times of the year depending on the variety. For example, navel oranges are ready in the second half of the year from July to November. Whereas, Satsumi orange are ready from October to January.

Therefore, there’s a large window where an orange can be ripe, and as a result, an orange will begin to go bad at any time.

Certain fruits and vegetables don’t need to be refrigerated and last for quite a while in the pantry. So, with oranges is it better to refrigerate them or keep them at room temperature?

It’s perfectly fine to either refrigerate oranges or keep them at room temperature.

Oranges will last for about 7 to 14 days at room temperature but by 30 days they will be completely covered in mold.

Whereas, in the refrigerator they will last for 30 days or longer.

Here’s a video time lapse showing an orange left on a counter for 30 days.

As you can see the orange looks quite normal for the first 14 days then the skin starts to turn an unappealing brown, and mold starts to grow from the base of the orange as the brown spreads to the remainder of the orange.

By about day 25 the orange is completely destroyed by mold. When fruit goes bad the chemicals react with each other.

It’s generally known in science that the warmer the temperature the faster chemical reactions occur.

And is related to the kinetic energy being higher in warmer atoms.

When the atoms are slowed down they collide with each other less and so have less chances to bond and produce new chemicals and by-products.

So, keeping them in the fridge slows down the chemical process whereby the orange breaks down.

Oranges will last for a long time in the fridge, and therefore you might be wondering whether they will eventually go bad.

Here’s what people who have kept oranges in the fridge for a long time have reported:

Refrigerated oranges go bad and become soft in the refrigerator after 3 to 4 weeks.

Liquid oozes out from the base of the fruit, and eventually it will go completely flat and there will be a dried pool of orange juice that turns brown in color.

The main difference between oranges kept in the fridge and oranges that are kept at room temperature is that refrigerated oranges take much longer to go bad.

Mold can also grow on food kept in the fridge. Mold grows best in humid and warm environments but can also tolerate the cold of a fridge.

It’s common to see mold grow on the surface of jam.

And mold will develop on the surface of an orange left in the fridge.

Oranges freeze well, and will last for a year or more in the freezer.

But, when you defrost frozen oranges, they turn into a soft mush and lose their shape.

Because of that, it’s best to only freeze the oranges that you intend to use for baking, sauces, or smoothies.

I’m Chris Watson & the Founder of EatForLonger.com.  I’m a food and wellbeing enthusiast researching and sharing foodstuffs and simple food-based concepts, such as fasting and clean eating. I hope it inspires you to make tiny changes to what you eat and when you eat while optimizing your healthspan and all-around well-being.

Read more About Me here.