UC Riverside ag experts create a seedless citrus

To some botanists at UC Riverside, it takes a tree to tango. That’s what they figured out when they developed a new seedless fruit that’ll arrive soon at a market near you.

It’s called the tango – a variety of mandarin orange that’s the first commercial crop of its kind created at UC Riverside.

The sweet, easy-peeling citrus fruit is a hybrid of a Moroccan variety, bred to develop without seeds no matter where it’s planted. Usually, mandarin trees planted within five miles of other citrus develop fruit with seeds after bees pollinate them.

UC Riverside has patented the tango and has introduced it in stages – first in California, then in Florida and – a little more than a year ago – in other countries.

There’s no trademark on the name “tango,” so the fruit will show up in grocery stores under a variety of brand names including Cuties and Delites when it ripens later this month.