Useful and medicinal properties of orange
There are also other names of this representative of the genus Citrus family of ritual - bigara, bitter orange. The Latin species name is Citrus Bigaradia.
Evergreen perennial fruit plant. Homeland - Eastern Himalayas. In culture it is common in the Mediterranean countries, in the Middle East;in the former USSR - in the humid subtropics on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus( from Gagra to Batumi) and in Azerbaijan.
Trees in height from 2 to 10 m. Branches and shoots with large( up to 6-10 cm) spines. The leaves are elliptical in shape, pointed, green on top, shining, below - lighter, slightly dentate, wavy. On the leaves, numerous translucent receptacles of essential oil are noticeable. Flowers large, white, solitary or in inflorescences, with a strong aroma. Blossoms in April-May, fruits ripen in November-January. The harvest of oranges in the southern regions of Russia is removed in October-November.
Fruit is berry-shaped, globose, sometimes slightly flattened, 6-7 cm in diameter. Rind is about 1 cm thick, bumpy, bright orange or orange-red, easily separated from the pulp, with a high content of essential oil. Flesh is orange, consists of 10-12 lobules, sour, slightly bitter, with a large number of seeds.
Fruits contain: sugars, citric, malic, salicylic and gallic acids, flavonoids -
hesperidin( up to 10%);in the seeds found fatty oil( 18%).In flowers and leaves - a large content of essential oils.
Eastern medicine has long used the fruits of orange and juice from them. In fruits, furocoumarin umbelliferone, which has a strong antifungal activity, is found. Fruit essential oil is also characterized by bactericidal properties. This means that pomeranian is widely used as an antiemetic, anticancer-left, diaphoretic, digestive, carminative, expectorant, with abdominal pain, stomach disorders, stagnant phenomena in the chest cavity, with prolapse of rectum, spleen diseases, painful urges to the chair. Seeds are recommended for loss of appetite, pain in the chest, colds, coughing, hernia, inflammation of the testicles. Outer in crushed form is applied to reduce freckles. In traditional oriental medicine, orange fruits are part of contraceptives.
Fresh fruits are usually not used, but they are used for the production of juice, refreshing drinks, marmalade. Of the flowers extracted essential oil( neroli) for the perfume industry. This oil is the most popular among aromatherapy pevots.
The fruit rind( orange peel) is also used, and the immature fruits( "orange peas"), the size of a pea or nut, are hard, greenish-gray, fragrant.
The dried rind of ripe fruit goes to the manufacture of galenic preparations( galenic preparations - medicines from vegetable or animal raw materials, differ from novogalenovyh drugs by the degree of purification from ballast substances).These two products - peel and "nuts" - contain essential oils, valuable organic acids, bitter substances, in particular glycoside, gesperedin.
In medicine, fruits and rind of orange are used in the composition of drugs that stimulate appetite and promote digestion. Peel comes in as an aromatic bitter in the composition of the ready-made pharmacy tincture.
Official phytotherapy much more appreciates the bitter orange as a medicinal raw material in comparison with sweet orange - it has a higher content of biologically active substances.
Bitter orange is an effective remedy against a variety of nervous disorders. It is used to reduce irritability, with increased nervous excitability, in sudden states of fear with rapid heart rate;with neurasthenia with impaired gastric function and loss of appetite;for sleep disorders. Tea from the flowers and leaves of this plant is one of the best gastro-sedatives, it helps with nausea and vomiting. It can also help with certain forms of migraine, and primarily caused by stressful situations.