- Region
- Asia
- Origin
- South-East Asia and southern China; brought to the Mediterranean by Arab traders. Citrus × aurantium
- Other names
- Neroli, Bittere sinaasappelbloesem
Asia · Herb · № 123
Citrus × aurantium
Herb · Asia
Bitter orange
Citrus × aurantium
The dried unripe fruit (zhi shi) and peel are used in Chinese medicine for bloating and sluggish digestion. NCCIH warns that weight-loss products containing bitter orange (synephrine) pose risks to the heart and blood pressure.
Safety notes
Supplements with synephrine may cause palpitations, high blood pressure and strokes, especially with caffeine. Like grapefruit, it affects the breakdown of some medicines.
Cautions by tradition (2)
- Natural skin and hair care: Always dilute essential oil.
- Chinese materia medica: Caution during pregnancy, with qi deficiency or cold in the stomach.
Preparation
Dried peel or fruit as decoction; in Europe as marmalade, liqueur and blossom water (neroli). No dosage is given here.
Use in traditions
Ody describes how different parts of citrus fruits each have their own action in Chinese medicine, such as zhi shi and tangerine peel chen pi. Arab traders brought the tree to Spain: the Seville orange.
Applications
Use by tradition
How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.
Herbal medicine worldwide
Attributed effects
Bitter orange carminative, diuretic, expectorant, energy tonic; neroli calming and antispasmodic; bergamot antibacterial, carminative, calming; tangerine peel aids digestion and is expectorant.
Preparation and amount
Bitter orange decoction for indigestion and constipation; tangerine peel (chen pi) as a decoction for bloating and cough; bergamot oil 5–10 drops in a sitz bath for vaginal itching, in ointment (max. 1 ml per 100 ml) for psoriasis, acne and scabies; bergamot oil makes the skin sensitive to light.
Natural skin and hair care
Attributed effects
Neroli has a soft, floral scent and is used in care for dry, sensitive skin.
Preparation and amount
External: neroli oil from the blossom in a toner for sensitive skin and in hair products (see the recipes).
Caution: Always dilute essential oil.
Chinese materia medica
- Nature and taste
- bitter, sour, pungent, slightly cold
- Meridians
- spleen, stomach, large intestine
Attributed effects
The immature fruit (zhi shi) lets the qi in the middle flow and descend in a distended, painful abdomen and food stagnation, helps in constipation from qi stagnation and dissolves phlegm in a full, tight feeling in chest and stomach area. With lifting herbs it is actually used for prolapse.
Preparation and amount
Traditional dosage: 3–9 g a day, usually in a decoction.
Combinations
- With hawthorn berry, barley sprout and shen qu for food stagnation
- With rhubarb for constipation
- With rhubarb, huang lian and huang qin for dysentery
Caution: Caution during pregnancy, with qi deficiency or cold in the stomach.
- Ways to prepare herbs
- DecoctionTinctureSalve and balmSteam and bath