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Herbal Glossary | Medicinal Glossary | Herbal Preparations | Ayervedic Formulas | Chinese Formulas Bitter OrangeContents:Common Names | Parts Usually Used | Plant(s) & Culture | Where Found | Medicinal Properties | Biochemical Information
Scientific Names
Common Names
Parts Usually UsedFlowers, rind of the fruit
Description of Plant(s) and CultureThe orange is an evergreen tree; the trunk is covered with smooth grayish-brown bark; with its branches, it reaches a height of 20-30 feet. Long spines appear beside the buds. The alternate, ovate-oblong leaves are glossy and dotted with glands; their petioles are broadly winged, their margins are sinuate or crenately toothed. One or more fragrant, white, five-petaled flowers grow in the leaf axils. The fruit is the familiar orange (technically an hesperidium), with segmented sour pulp inside a roughish rind. This species is not eaten fresh but is made into marmalade. Other varieties: Sweet orange (C. sinensis) which is grown for eating, differs from the bitter orange in having narrowly winged petioles and few or no spines. The fruit is usually smaller and has a sweet taste. Medicinally it can be used like bitter orange, but is less effective except as a carminative. Mandarin orange (C. reticulata) used medicinally much as the bitter orange.
Where FoundNative to Asia but has become common cultivated (as in Florida, California, etc.). Grown in the far north of the United States (Baltimore) as an ornamental.
Medicinal PropertiesCarminative, expectorant, laxative, stimulant, stomachic, tonic
Biochemical InformationNeohesperidin, naringin, rhoifolin, lonicerin, vitamin C and flavonoids
Legends, Myths and StoriesThe bitter orange rind is used in Vermouth flavorings. The oil or dried peel is used in many liqueurs and bitters. Originating in southeast Asia or India, oranges are described in Chinese writings as early as 2200 BC, though their use is thought to date back much farther. The name orange is derived from the Sanskrit word for the fruit, narange. The bitter orange was introduced to Europe by the Crusaders; the sweet orange was not known in Europe until the 15th century, probably brought there from the Orient by Genoese merchants. The Crusaders observed that Saracen brides wore orange blossom wreaths at their weddings. To the Saracens, the orange was a symbol of fecundity, because the tree bears fruit and blossoms at the same time. After the Crusaders’ return, the custom of using orange blossoms as bridal flowers was adopted in Europe; but it did not become widespread until the 17th century, probably because the blossoms were very rare and expensive until then. The orange, as a traditional Chinese symbol of good luck and prosperity, is still used today in Chinese New Year’s celebrations. Bitter orange was bred specially for the extraction of pharmaceutical drugs, primarily in the West Indies and Spain. The bitter orange is only distantly related to the citrus fruits we eat; oranges, tangerines, and grapefruits. The flowers, the small unripe fruits, and the peel, minus the white inner skin, are the parts used pharmaceutically. Flowers have a pleasant scent and ripe fruit contains sweet-smelling essential oil but bitter-tasting flavonoids.
UsesThe dried rind is helpful for dyspepsia and constipation. The oil derived from the fresh rind can be used to dispel flatulence; it makes a pleasant and nonirritating remedy for chronic bronchitis and lack of appetite. An infusion of dried flowers acts as a mild nervous stimulant, but the oil obtained by distillation of the flowers has hypnotic properties when inhaled.
Nutrient ContentSweet orange: iron, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, vitamins B1 and C
How SoldMade into marmalades
WarningAvoid citrus use if gastric or intestinal ulcers exist.
Bibliography
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Seville orange
The Complete Medicinal Herbal
, by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993
, by Mannfried Pahlow, Barron's Educational Series, Inc. 250 Wireless Blvd., Hauppauge, NY 11788, 1992Copyright © 1996-2010 Lynn DeVries, all rights reserved.