Herb Of The Week - Bitter Orange - About Oranges

[Guest guest]

What's in a name?

 

This is another good example of why botanical names really help when

you're trying to figure out what plant somebody is talking about!

 

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

 

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

http://www.citrus-fruit.com/

 

ORANGE BITTERS

Family: Rutaceae

Genus: Citrus

Species: aurantium

Common Name: Bitter Orange

Ethnic Names: Ch'Eng, Chin Ch'Iu, Hua Chu Hung, Kuang Chu, Orange

Bitters, Naranja Agria, Neroli, Petitgrain

Properties/Actions: Expectorant, Laxative, Carminative, Stomachic,

Hypertensive, Nervine

 

Orange, Sweet

Botanical: Citrus aurantium (LINN.), var. dulcis

Family: N.O. Rutaceae

 

 

---Synonyms---Citrus vulgaris. Citrus Bigaradia. Citrus aurantium amara.

Bigaradier. Bigarade Orange. Bitter Orange. Seville Orange. (Sweet)

Portugal Orange. China Orange. Citrus dulcis.

---Parts Used---Fruit, flowers, peel.

---Habitat---India, China. Cultivated in Spain, Madeira, etc.

 

 

Description---Both common and official names are derived from the

Sanskrit nagaranga through the Arabic naranj.

It is a small tree with a smooth, greyishbrown bark and branches that

spread into a fairly regular hemisphere. The oval, alternate, evergreen

leaves, 3 to 4 inches long, have sometimes a spine in the axil. They are

glossy, dark green on the upper side, paler beneath. The calyx is

cup-shaped and the thick, fleshy petals, five in number, are intensely

white, and curl back.

 

The fruit is earth-shaped, a little rougher and darker than the common,

sweet orange: the flowers are more strongly scented and the glands in

the rind are concave instead of convex.

 

The first mention of oranges appears in the writings of Arabs, the time

and manner of their first cultivation in Europe being uncertain.

 

The small, immature fruits are sometimes used under the name of Orange

berries for flavouring Curaçoa. They are the size of a cherry and dark

greyish-brown in colour. Formerly an essence was extracted from them.

 

The peel is used both fresh and dried. Much is imported from Malta, cut

more thinly than that prepared in England.

 

In Grasse the blossoms are candied in large quantities.

 

Oil of petitgrain is made from the leaves and young shoots.

 

The volatile oil of the bitter Orange peel is known as Oil of Bigarade,

and Sweet Orange oil as Oil of Portugal. For methods of extraction, see

LEMON.

 

Orange oil is one of the most difficult to preserve, the most

satisfactory method being to add 10 per cent of its volume of olive oil.

 

 

The flowers yield by distillation an essential oil known as 'Neroli,'

which forms one of the chief constituents of Eau-de-Cologne. A pomade

and an oil are also obtained from them by maceration.

 

The oil from Sweet Orange blossoms is found in commerce under the name

of 'Neroli petalae.' Being far less fragrant it only fetches half the

price of neroli oil and on that account is frequently used to adulterate

the true neroli oil.

 

The largest Bigarade-tree plantations are to be found in the South of

France, in Calabria and in Sicily. The centre of the industry of neroli

oil is the South of France, where the bitter Orange is extensively

cultivated for that purpose alone. The tree requires a dry soil with a

southern aspect. It bears flowers three years after grafting, increasing

every year until it reaches its maximum, when it is about twenty years

old. The quantity depends on the age and situation, a full-grown tree

yielding on an average 50 to 60 lb. of blossoms. One hundred Orange

trees, at the age of ten years, will occupy nearly an acre of land, and

will produce during the season about 2,200 lb. of Orange flowers. The

flowering season is in May and the flowers are gathered two or three

times a week, after sunrise. When the autumn is mild and atmospheric

conditions are favourable, flowering takes place in October, and this

supplementary harvest lasts until January, or till a frosty morning

stops the flowering. These autumn flowers have much less perfume than

those of the spring and the custom is to value them at only one-half the

price of May flowers. The Bitter Orange and Edible Orange trees bear a

great resemblance to each other, but their leaf-stalks show a marked

difference, that of the Bitter Orange being broadened out in the shape

of a heart. The yield of oil is greatly influenced by the temperature

and atmospheric conditions prevailing at the time of gathering. In warm

weather it may amount to as much as 1,400 grams per 100 kilogrammes of

flowers, but under adverse conditions, such as damp, cool and changeable

weather, considerable diminution is experienced. Generally the largest

yields are obtained at the end of the flowering season, on account of

the warmer temperature.

 

The method most followed for extraction of the oil is by distillation,

which yields a higher percentage of oil from the flowers than maceration

or absorption in fats and volatile solvents. The flowers are distilled

immediately after gathering, the essential oil rising to the surface of

the distillate is drawn off, while the aqueous portion is sold as

'Orange Flower Water.' Orange flower water is being increasingly used in

France by biscuit-makers to give crispness to their products, and some

of the English biscuit-makers have also adopted it for this purpose.

 

There is a marked difference in the scent of the oils obtained by the

different processes. Neroli obtained by distillation has quite a

different odour from the fresh Orange flower; the oils obtained by

solvents and by maceration and enfleurage are truest to the scent of the

natural flower. From 100 kilogrammes of flowers 1,000 grams of oil are

obtained; by volatile solvents, 600 grams; by maceration, 400 grams; and

by enfleurage, only about 100 grams of oil.

 

Orange Flower Oil as obtained from pomatum, slightly modified with other

extracts, can be employed to make 'Sweet Pea' and 'Magnolia' perfumes,

the natural odours of which it slightly resembles.

 

The use of Orange-blossom as a bridal decoration is neither

long-established nor indigenous, as it was introduced into this country

from France only about a hundred years ago.

 

Constituents---The peel of var. Bigaradia contains volatile oil, three

glucosides, hesperidin, isohesperidin, an amorphous bitter principle,

Aurantiamarin, aurantiamaric acid, resin, etc.

 

The ethyl ether of -naphthol, under the name of nerolin, is an

artificial oil of neroli, said to be ten times as strong.

 

Oil of Orange Flowers is:

'soluble in an equal volume of alcohol, the solution having a violet

fluorescence and a neutral reaction to litmus paper. The specific

gravity is 0.868 to 0.880 at 25 degrees C. (77 degrees F.). When

agitated with a concentrated solution of sodium bisulphate it assumes a

permanent purple-red colour.'

It must not be coloured by sulphuretted hydrogen.

Oil of Sweet Orange Peel contains at least 90 per cent o-limonene, the

remaining 10 per cent being the odorous constituents, citral,

citronellal, etc. It is a yellow liquid with the specific gravity 0.842

to 0.846 at 25 degrees C. (77 degrees F.).

 

Oil of Bitter Orange Peel, a pale yellow liquid, is soluble in four

volumes of alcohol, the solution being neutral to litmus paper. The

specific gravity is 0.842 to 0.848 at 25 degrees C. (77 degrees F.). The

odour is more delicate than that of the Sweet Orange.

 

Fuming nitric acid gives a dark green colour to sweet peel and a brown

to the bitter.

 

Medicinal Action and Uses---The oil is used chiefly as a flavouring

agent, but may be used in the same way as oil of turpentine in chronic

bronchitis. It is non-irritant to the kidneys and pleasant to take.

 

On the Continent an infusion of dried flowers is used as a mild nervous

stimulant.

 

The powdered Bitter Orange peel should be dried over freshly-burnt lime.

For flavouring, the sweet peel is better, and as a tonic, that of the

Seville or Bigaradia is preferred.

 

A syrup and an elixir are used for flavouring, and a wine as a vehicle

for medicines.

 

The compound wine is too dangerous as an intoxicant, being mixed with

absinthium, to be recommended as a tonic.

 

---Preparations of Bitter Orange---Syrup, B.P., 1/2 to 1 drachm.

Tincture, B.P. and U.S.P., 1/2 to 1 drachm. Infusion of Orange, B.P., 4

to 8 drachms. Infusion of Orange Compound, B.P., 4 to 8 drachms.

Compound spirit, U.S.P., 1 to 2 drachms. Syrup, B.P., 1/2 to 1 drachm.

Wine, B.P., a wineglassful.

 

---Preparations of Sweet Orange---Syrup, B.P. and U.S.P., 1/2 to 1

drachm. Tincture, U.S.P., 1/2 to 1 drachm.