OLL-8 Orange

OLL-8 Orange is a sweet-orange somaclone selected from the unstable OLL line after tissue-culture regeneration. The patent says the original OLL was believed to come from an irradiation-induced Pineapple-orange trial; that is a reported, uncertain history and does not establish OLL-8's genetic parentage.^⁠[5] UF/IFAS identifies the selection as developed at the Orie Lee property in St. Cloud. A 2014 trade report calls OLL-8 the first experimental processed-orange selection approved for release and says growers could test it in Florida; this is historical release information, not present licensing status.^⁠[3]⁠[8]

UF/IFAS describes round fruit with orange-to-green external color and deep-orange flesh, with a late-March-to-April season. FFSP describes medium, round fruit, high juice, and a Valencia-season harvest that may begin a few weeks earlier depending on weather; it says quality can hold into June or summer. The patent gives specimen-specific fruit dimensions and a late-April 2008 Brix sample. Published Brix and juice-solids values come from different source, rootstock, sample, and harvest contexts, so they should not be merged into one expected reading.^{⁠[3]⁠[4]⁠[5]⁠[2]}

Reported production results are tied to specific trees and trials. FFSP repeats an original eight-year-old tree's yield of more than five 90-pound boxes; a 2023 grower article reports seven pounds of solids per box for OLL-8 on rough lemon over four seasons without psyllid control, compared with about six for adjacent Valencia on rough lemon. A 2021 article separately reports one June UFR-2 harvest at 14+ Brix with no-to-minimal granulation. Methods, sample counts, and some trial years are not supplied, so these are source-specific reports rather than general yield or quality guarantees.^{⁠[2]⁠[6]⁠[7]}

Health comparisons remain qualified. UF/IFAS reports better health than Valencia across sites and years and says OLL-8 so far appears more tolerant than selected Hamlin and Valencia comparators; a 2023 article describes only anecdotal evidence of slightly greater HLB tolerance for OLL trees generally. The patent says no obvious tree-debilitating disease had been observed but systematic resistance testing had not been explored; it records canker lesions and a lower-than-Valencia canker-tolerance impression. FFSP also links more primary-scaffold thorns with greater canker susceptibility. These are source-attributed observations without a shared testing protocol or quantified disease rating.^{⁠[3]⁠[6]⁠[5]⁠[4]}