Petit Grain Bitter Orange
Native to Asia, the bitter orange tree (Citrus aurantium ssp.amara (folia)) is a member of the Rutaceae family, with spiny branches and alternate, persistent and coriaceous brilliant green leaves.
It bears fruit called sour oranges, that are unfit for consumption, smaller than sweet oranges, with a thick rough peel and bitter and acidic flesh.
It is used in two forms in traditional Chinese medicine to treat digestive and cardiac disorders: zhi shi (green fruit) and zhi kiao (zest).
Main aromatic molecules: Terpene esters (linalyl, geranyl and neryl acetates), monoterpenols (linalool, α-terpineol).
Family: Rutaceae.
Productive organs: Leaves and small branches.
Yield: 700g of essential oil per 100kg of plants.
Equivalence: 1ml → 31 drops (dosage calculated for a calibrated dropper European Pharmacopoeia).
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Bath
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Skin application
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Oral route
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Respiratory route
Main properties
recipes
Massage 1 drop of essential oil of bitter orange and 1 drop of essential oil of true lavender, mixed with 2 drops of carrier oil, into the solar plexus and soles of the feet, before going to bed, for one week.
Nervous imbalance (children over the age of three years)
Place one drop of pure essential oil of bitter orange onto the inner surface of each of the child's wrists and ask him/her to breathe deeply.
Devitalised skin
Add 1 drop of essential oil of bitter orange to a dose of day cream.
Greasy skin
3 drops of essential oil of cistus, 10 drops of essential oil of geranium, 10 drops of essential oil of bitter orange, 20 ml of jojoba plant oil. Apply the above mixture each morning.
Stress, anxiety
Mix 10 to 15 drops of essential oil of bitter orange in one teaspoon of powdered milk or neutral base. Pour this mixture into hot bath water (at least 37 °C).
Take 2 drops of essential oil of bitter orange on a neutral tablet, sugar cube, or in honey, three times daily.
CULTIVATION AND PRODUCTION
FRAGRANCE
EXTRACTION AND YIELD
CHEMICAL FORMULA
Precautions for use
Do not use in: pregnant or breast-feeding women, children under the age of three years, persons allergic to one of the components (geraniol, limonene, linalool), subjects with asthma without the advice of an allergologist before the first use.
Like several other oriental fruit trees, bitter orange was brought back by the soldiers of Alexander to their respective countries and, fifteen centuries later, reintroduced by the crusades to a Western world that had largely forgotten it. Its fruit, the bitter orange, was known to our ancestors long before it was cultivated. They justifiably praised its peel, that they used as a digestive tonic, serving it as an entrée to their copious feasts and protecting them from the consequences of over-indulgence. The Greek Theophrastus, founding father of botany thanks to his treatises Enquiry into plants and On the causes of plants, praised the virtues of this fruit as early as the 4th century BC. Six centuries later, Galienus, physician to the emperor Commodus, prescribed it for a great many ailments. In Chinese traditional medicine, it is used to treat digestive and cardiac disorders: zhi shi (unripe fruit) and zhi kiao (rind). Combining sweetness with bitterness, this exquisite and paradoxical fruit inevitably inspired poets. Thus, Aragon sang his "sombre amour d'orange amère" (dark lover for bitter orange).
AROMATHERAPIA
The properties, benefits and method of use are given for information; they cannot in any case constitute or replace medical information that only health professionals can provide. For any use of essential oils for therapeutic purposes, please consult your GP or pharmacist.
