Spotlight On: The Essential Oils of the Citrus Family

Generally, the essential oils of the Rutaceae (the fancy name for Citrus) family are known for being refreshing, uplifting and cooling.  They are useful in skin care (many are reported to help prevent stretch marks), to help with circulation, and for digestive system complaints.

One very important warning about this family: All citrus oils are phototoxic.  This means that they will increase the harmful effects of the sun’s rays.  In other words, if you massage yourself with a blend containing citrus oils, and then expose your skin to sunlight or tanning beds, you will burn.  Remember how we all used lemon juice to lighten our hair at the beach?  Well, there is a reason why it worked!

Citrus oils also have very short shelf lives; They can lose their scent rather quickly.  Most of them are fairly inexpensive, so use them freely around your home, especially Lemon, Lime and Grapefruit, which are all great for disinfecting and refreshing the air.

The orange tree produces 3 distinct essential oils, each from a different part of the plant, each with different aromatic applications, but they all have the same botanical name -- Citrus aurantium var. amara.

 

Bitter Orange

Part of Plant Used: Ripe fruit

Method of Extraction:  Cold expression of the peel

Inexpensive and widely available, Bitter Orange is considered by most aromatherapists to be superior in therapeutic value to Sweet Orange.    I’ve just ordered some Bitter Orange to see how much it differs from the Sweet variety that  I currently use.

Petitgrain

Part of Plant Used:  Leaves, twigs and the small, green, unripe fruit

Method of Extraction:  Steam distillation

This oil is smells slightly more “woodsy” and less candy-like than Bitter or Sweet Orange.  I like to mix this with Lavender to create a very calming blend. It’s great for insomnia and depression. 

Neroli

Part of Plant Used: Fresh flowers, hand-picked just prior to blooming

Method of Extraction: Steam distillation

It takes 1000 pounds of blossom petals to obtain 1 pound of essential oil – this explains why Neroli costs somewhere in the range of $7 a mL.  Due to its high price, Neroli EO is often adulterated. If you decide to make the investment in this oil, be sure you trust your supplier.  Neroli is never cheap!  If you find it somewhere at a rock-bottom price, move on!  Dishonest suppliers will add a bit of Neroli to the less expensive Citrus aurantium oils of Bitter Orange or Petitgrain and try to sell it at Neroli’s high prices.

To be honest, I don’t own any Neroli EO myself (due to the cost), so I can’t speak much on it’s applications, but I do use the hydrosol (sometimes called Orange Blossom water) and it’s heavenly. 

Other Members of the Rutaceae (Citrus) Family

Lemon

Botanical Name Citrus limon

Part of Plant Used: Fruit

Method of Extraction:  cold expression of the peel

I like Lemon for cleaning and deodorizing.  It’s another one of the candy-smelling Citrus oils.  Mixed with Tea Tree and added to unscented liquid hand soap base, it makes an anti-bacterial soap that also smells great.  I keep a bottle in a kitchen cupboard by the sink and drip a few drops down the drain each day to keep the sink smelling fresh.

Lime

Botanical Name: Citrus aurantifolia

Part of Plant Used: Fruit – ripe and unripe

Method of Extraction:  cold expression of the peel

Lime has a very uplifting scent and I generally use this oil combined with Rosemary whenever I need a quick pick-me-up.  Lime could also be substituted for Lemon oil for cleaning and deodorizing purposes; It just depends which one you prefer.

Bergamot

Botanical Name Citrus bergamia

Part of Plant Used: Fruit

Method of Extraction:  cold expression of the peel

This oil is so versatile. It is named after the Italian city of Bergamot (in Lombardy), where the oil was first sold, and it has been a staple in Italian folk medicine for many years.  Traditionally, they used it to treat fever. As with all citrus oils, it’s great for skin care and circulation, but I find Bergamot has an especially uplifting effect on the psyche.  You’d be hard pressed to find an aromatherapist with Bergamot in their apothecary chest.

Sweet Orange

Botanical Name Citrus cinensis

Part of Plant Used: Fruit

Method of Extraction:  cold expression of the peel

Many of the same applications of the oils of the Bitter Orange tree, such as skin care and calming the digestive system.  I use this oil a lot with children – my son likes a few drops on his pillow at night to help keep nightmares away.

Tangerine/Mandarin

(called Mandarin when it’s grown in China; Tangerine is grown in North America)

Botanical Name Citrus reticulara

Part of Plant Used: Fruit

Method of Extraction:  cold expression of the peel

This oil is safe for babies and I like to mix it with lavender for a nice massage oil – just one drop of each EO in 30mL of carrier oil is plenty for the little ones.  I’ve also added it to rice powder as an alternative to drug-store baby powder.   As it’s very gentle, this oil is also a good one for pregnant women and can be massaged on the abdomen (properly diluted, of course) to help prevent stretch marks.  Just make sure you follow the warnings about photo-toxicity!

Grapefruit

Botanical Name: Citrus x paradisi

Part of Plant Used: Fruit

Method of Extraction:  cold expression of the peel

This is one of my favourite oils, and I use it a lot when blending.  Sometimes I will chose a few particular oils based on the therapeutic benefits of their chemical components – but the blend just doesn’t smell very pleasant!  A few drops of Grapefruit EO will normally fix that problem.   Mix Grapefruit with Ylang Ylang for a super revitalizing & refreshing blend.  That is actually the basis of my Revive Aromatherapy Inhaler!