What Exactly Is Orange Juice Pulp?

If you're feeling down with the weather, have a nasty sneeze, or have a lung-rattling cough, it's not uncommon for doctors to encourage a healthy serving of vitamin C to help you recover. According to Mayo Clinic, vitamin C is an essential nutrient that aids your body in healing common ailments, protects against disease, and helps build and maintain healthy bones and muscles. 

According to Harvard T.H. Chan, there's no wrong way to make sure your body has the vitamin C it needs, whether it's from supplements, or from foods like broccoli, strawberries, tomatoes — or most sinfully — white potatoes. However, one of the most common and refreshing methods is by drinking orange juice. If you're buying orange juice from the grocery store, you may find yourself debating between orange juice with or without pulp. In order to make a decision, you should be familiar with what pulp actually is.

Where pulp come from

While there are methods and tools to remove the pulp from your orange juice, it's a natural by-product of juicing. According to UpThirst, pulp is leftover fiber from the whole fruit that remains in the juice and adds to its bright orange color. In the simplest terms, pulp is just the remnants of an orange. According to WebMD, drinking orange juice with pulp is an easy way to boost your daily intake of fiber. Like vitamin C, fiber also lowers your risk of certain diseases and chronic illnesses while helping boost digestion along the way.

Despite its health benefits, the texture of pulp in orange juice can be off-putting for some people. But, does that mean you should remove the pulp from your homemade orange juice? Pulp Pantry says that fruits and vegetables account for the majority of food waste in America, which contributes to greenhouse gasses and exacerbates the ongoing climate crisis. Instead of throwing out your pulp, Fine Dining Leftovers says pulp can be transformed into fruit chews or popsicles, add richness to smoothies, enhance breakfast pancakes, and bring a fruity ambiance to granola bowls.