Bitter orange
Hybrid citrus plant From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hybrid citrus plant From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The bitter orange, sour orange, Seville orange, bigarade orange, or marmalade orange is the hybrid citrus tree species Citrus × aurantium, and its fruit. It is native to Southeast Asia and has been spread by humans to many parts of the world.[3] It is a cross between the pomelo, Citrus maxima, and the mandarin orange, Citrus reticulata. Many varieties of bitter orange are used for their essential oil, and are found in perfume, used as a flavoring or as a solvent. The Seville orange is prized for making British orange marmalade.
| Citrus × aurantium | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Rutaceae |
| Genus: | Citrus |
| Species: | C. × aurantium |
| Binomial name | |
| Citrus × aurantium | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
|
List
| |
In some proposed systems, the species Citrus × aurantium includes not only the bitter orange proper (Citrus × aurantium), but all other hybrids involving the pomelo (Citrus maxima) and the wild mandarin (Citrus reticulata sensu stricto, other name: Citrus daoxianensis), i.e. mainly:
This article only deals with the bitter orange proper.
The bitter orange, like many cultivated Citrus species, is a hybrid, in its case of the wild mandarin and pomelo.[7][8] It has orange fruit with a distinctly bitter or sour taste. The tree has alternate simple leaves and thorns on its petiole.
The bitter orange spread from Southeast Asia via India and Iran to the Islamic world as early as 700 C.E.[9] It was introduced to Spain in the 10th century by the Moors.[10][11] After the Columbian exchange, the pomelo was introduced to Florida and the Bahamas from Spain;[3] wild trees are found near small streams in generally secluded and wooded areas.
Among the many related species is Citrus bergamia, the Bergamot orange. This is probably a bitter orange and limetta hybrid; it is cultivated in Italy for the production of bergamot oil, a component of many brands of perfume and tea, especially Earl Grey tea.[13]
While the raw pulp is not edible,[14] bitter orange is widely used in cooking.
The Seville orange (the usual name in this context) is prized for making British orange marmalade, being higher in pectin than the sweet orange, and therefore giving a better set and a higher yield. Once a year, oranges of this variety are collected from trees in Seville and shipped to Britain to be used in marmalade.[15] However, the fruit is rarely consumed locally in Andalusia.[16] This reflects the historic Atlantic trading relationship with Portugal and Spain; an early recipe for 'marmelet of oranges' was recorded by Eliza Cholmondeley in 1677.[17]
Bitter orange—bigarade—was used in all early recipes for duck à l'orange, originally called canard à la bigarade.[18]
It is used in compotes and for orange-flavored liqueurs. The peel can be used in the production of bitters. The unripe fruit, called narthangai, is commonly used in Southern Indian cuisine, especially in Tamil cuisine. It is pickled by cutting it into spirals or small wedges and stuffing it with salt. The pickle is usually consumed with yoghurt rice called thayir sadam. The fresh fruit is also used frequently in pachadis.
Belgian Witbier (white beer) is often spiced with the peel of the bitter orange.
In Finland and Sweden, bitter orange peel is used in dried, ground form (called pomeranssi in Finnish, pomerans in Swedish) in gingerbread (pepparkakor), some Christmas bread, and mämmi. In Denmark, the candied peel (Danish pomeransskal) is used in various desserts and cakes like Christmas Cake (julekage) and Brown Cake (brunekager). It is a component of the Nordic glögi.
In Greece and Cyprus, the nerántzi or κιτρομηλο, respectively, is one of the most prized fruits used for spoon sweets, and the C. aurantium tree (nerantziá or kitromiliá) is a popular ornamental tree. In Albania as well, nerënxa or portokalli i hidhur is used commonly in spoon sweets.
In Malta, bitter oranges are known as larinġ tal-bakkaljaw, and are used for marmalade and as root-stock for other citrus trees.[19][20] The Maltese soft drink Kinnie is also made from bitter oranges.
In Turkey, juice of the ripe fruits can be used as salad dressing, especially in Çukurova region. However, in Iraqi cuisine, a bitter orange or raranj in Iraqi is used to complement dishes such as charred fish (samak or simach maskouf, tomato stew morgat tamata, qeema, a dish that has the same ingredients as an Iraqi tomato stew with the addition of minced meat, boiled chickpeas lablabi, salads, as a dressing, and on essentially any dish one might desire to accompany bitter orange. Iraqis also consume it as a citrus fruit or juice it to make bitter orange juice 'aseer raranj. Throughout Iran (where the fruit is commonly known as narenj), the juice is popularly used as a salad dressing, souring agent in stews and pickles or as a marinade. The blossoms are collected fresh to make a prized sweet-smelling aromatic jam (bitter orange blossom jam, morabba bahar-narenj), or added to brewing tea.
In the Americas, the juice from the ripe fruit is used as a marinade for meat in Nicaraguan, Cuban, Dominican, and Haitian cooking, as it is in Peruvian ceviche. In Yucatán (Mexico), it is a main ingredient of the cochinita pibil. In Cuba, a traditional Christmas time dessert is made with the peel of the bitter orange cooked in syrup and eaten with cheese and buñuelos. In Suriname, its juice is also used in the well-known dish pom.
Many varieties of the bitter orange are used for their essential oil, and are found in perfume, used as a flavoring or as a solvent. The Seville orange variety is used in the production of marmalade and also used to make French bigarade.[21]
The bitter orange is used as a rootstock in groves of sweet orange.[3] The fruit and leaves make lather and can be used as soap.[3] The hard, white or light-yellow wood is used in woodworking and made into baseball bats in Cuba.[3]
Extracts of bitter orange and its peel have been marketed as dietary supplements purported to act as a weight-loss aid and appetite suppressant.[22][23] Bitter orange contains the tyramine metabolites N-methyltyramine, octopamine, and synephrine,[24] substances similar to epinephrine, which act on the α1 adrenergic receptor to constrict blood vessels and increase blood pressure and heart rate.[25][26] Several low-quality clinical trials have had results of p-synephrine (alone or in combination with caffeine or some other substances) increasing weight loss slightly.[27]
Following bans on the herbal stimulant ephedra in the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere, bitter orange has been substituted into "ephedra-free" herbal weight-loss products by dietary supplement manufacturers.[28] Like most dietary supplement ingredients, bitter orange has not undergone formal safety testing, but it is believed to cause the same spectrum of adverse events (harmful side effects) as ephedra.[29] The U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health found, "currently little evidence [shows] that bitter orange is safer to use than ephedra."[23]
Bitter orange supplements have been linked to serious side effects and deaths; consumer groups advocate that people avoid using the fruit medically.[30][31] Whether bitter orange affects medical conditions of heart and cardiovascular organs, by itself or in formulae with other substances, is inconclusive.[32] Standard reference materials are released concerning the properties in bitter orange by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for ground fruit, extract, and solid oral dosage form, along with those packaged together into one item.[33][34]
Case reports have linked bitter orange supplements to strokes,[35][36] angina,[24] and ischemic colitis.[37] Following an incident in which a healthy young man suffered a heart attack linked to bitter orange, a case study found that dietary supplement manufacturers had replaced ephedra with its analogs from bitter orange.[38]
Bitter orange may have serious interactions with drugs such as statins (to lower cholesterol), nifedipines (to lower blood pressure), some anti-anxiety drugs, and some antihistamines, in a similar way to grapefruit.[39]
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
