Essential Oil Profile

Orange

Traditional Use: Known as an uplifting oil, it is also used to aid digestive upsets. Orange oil is often found in household cleaners, used for muscles, as an anti-depressant and beauty aid.  Biiter is used for:  Bronchitis, colds, constipation, dull and oily complexions, flu, flatulence, nervous tension, palpitations, poor circulation, slow digestion, spasm, water retention. Bitter orange is a good substitute in a blend if you would like to avoid the sweetness found in sweet orange oil.  Mandarin has stronger antiseptic properties making it a great choice for skin care.

Properties: Anticoagulant, antidepressant, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antispasmodic, bactericidal, carminative, cholagogue, digestive, diuretic, expectorant, fungicidal, hypotensive, stimulant, stomachic, tonic

Constituents: 

Sweet:  d-Limonene, myrcene, octanal
Bitter:  d-Limonene, myrcene, decanal
Mandarin:  Limonene, methyl methylanthranilate, geraniol, citral, citronellal.
Tamgerine:  a-pinene, myrcene, limonene, y-terpinene, citronellal, linalool, neral, neryl acetate, geranyl acetate, geraniol, thymol, carvone.

Benefits: Asthma, colds, cough, depression, flatulence, hypertension, indigestion, infections, insomnia, muscle aches and pains, slow circulation, stress, tension, wounds. To use this oil for its uplifting properties it may be added to a bath (hand, foot, or whole), or diffused into the air.  Tangerine oil does contain limonene, which may suggest its use in household cleaners.

Blends Well With: Basil, bergamot, black pepper, cinnamon, clary sage, clove, coriander, eucalyptus, frankincense, geranium, ginger, grapefruit, jasmine, juniper, lavender, lemon, litsea cubeba, marjoram, myrrh, neroli, nutmeg, patchouli, petitgrain, rose, sandalwood, vetiver, ylang ylang

Of Interest: Sweet orange oil contains about 90% limonene, which is in many household cleaners. Because of this sweet orange oil is used as a earth friendly alternative to many common household cleaners.

Mandarin and Tangerine are both reticulate suggesting thus many believe they are the same oil, but they are not.  The tangerine is a variety of the mandarin orange. You may sometimes see it on the market as Citrus x tangerine. The oils have similar properties, but different aroma characteristics, and different chemotypes. 

Bitter Orange:  Bitter orange, citrus aurantium is an evergreen tree with hardy branches and beautiful white flowers. It is a tree from which four essential oils are produced: Neroli, from the flowers; Petitgrain, from the leaves; Bitter Orange, from the rind; an oil from the juice of the fruit (used in food flavoring only).
The essential oils of bitter orange, especially neroli, are sedative. In Western medicine, these oils are used to reduce heart rate and palpitations, to encourage sleep, and to soothe the digestive tract. Diluted neroli is applied as a relaxing massage oil. The distilled flower water is antispasmodic and sedative.

Bitter orange peel contains a volatile oil with limonene (about 90%), flavonoids, coumarins, triterpenes, vitamin C, carotene, and pectin. The flavonoids have several useful properties, being anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antifungal. The composition of the volatile oils in the leaves, flowers, and peel varies significantly. Linalyl acetate (50%) is the main constituent in oil from the leaves (petit grain), and linalool (35%) in oil from the flowers (neroli). The unripe fruit of the bitter orange contains cirantin, which reputedly is a contraceptive.

A valuable medicinal herb, the orange originated in China, and by the Middle Ages was a favorite with Arabian physicians. In the 16th century, an Italian princess named Anna-Marie de Nerola reputedly discovered an oil extracted from the flowers, which she used to scent her gloves; today neroli oil, as it became known, is expensive.

Safety Data: Generally considered safe.