Bitter orange

Origin

Mediterranean, China and the Arab world. The orange of antiquity.

The smell

Sharp, green-citrus with a bitter edge and more complex than sweet orange. The peel is resinous and slightly medicinal underneath the brightness. Three completely different smells from one tree: neroli from the blossom, petitgrain from the leaves, bigarade from the peel.

Key quality

The orange of antiquity — in Europe centuries before sweet orange arrived. Neroli from the blossom is one of the most studied natural anxiolytics, documented in clinical trials for reducing anxiety and improving sleep.

Historical use

Arrived in Europe from Persia and the Arab world around the 10th century, centuries before sweet orange. The orange of medieval medicine, of Arab pharmacopoeia, of the first European pomanders it still grows wild in the hills above Nice, in Sicily, in Seville. Its thick peel holds volatile oils for months of slow release which is why it made the pomander possible. It’s said that Anne Marie Orsini perfumed her gloves and bath with the bitter orange flower's essence, giving neroli its name, but long before that, and ever since, the blossom has carried the quiet language of the Mediterranean.

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