Petitgrain Essential Oil

Petitgrain

Petitgrain citrus aurantium var. amara this uplifting oil can be used to ease nervous tension, anxiety, mild depression and other stress-related conditions. Petitgrain essential oil is captured by steam distillation of the leaves and twigs of the bitter orange tree, also known as the Seville orange. The blossom of the same tree yields the precious essential oil of neroli, with orange flower water being produced as a by-product of the distillation process. There is also an essential oil of bitter orange which is extracted from the rind of the fruit. The bitter orange is an evergreen tree with glossy leaves. The white flowers are borne singly or in small clusters and are intensely fragrant. They are still in flower when the small, rough-skinned oranges appear. Although a native to Southeast Asia, the tree is now cultivated extensively in the Mediterranean and sub-tropical regions throughout the world. Bitter Seville oranges are used commercially to produce candied peel and marmalade. In firmer times the distilleries around Grasse produced an essential oil from the green, unripe oranges when they were still the size of a cherry, hence the French term petitgrains, meaning 'little grains’. Production of this oil proved to be uneconomic, for it greatly diminished the crop of mature oranges. So the traditional name was transferred to the oil extracted from the leaves and twigs. To the connoisseur, the finest petitgrain oil comes fiom the south of France and other Mediterranean regions, although high-quality oils are also produced in Tuinisia, Morocco, Egypt and Paraguay. The essential oil is a pale yellow or amber liquid with a fresh aroma that is reminiscent of orange hlossom, although having a Bitter, woody, herbaceous undertone. Its odour effect is generally perceived as cooling, relaxing and uplifting.

Various petitgrain oils are also produced from the leaves. twigs and small unripe fruit of other citrus trees, including the lemon sweet orange, mandarin, clementine amd bergamot each oil having its own characteristic quality of aroma. There is also a rare oil known as Petitgrain sur fleurs d'orange, obtained by re-distillation of petitgrain essential oil over fresh orange flowers from the same tree (the bitter orange). However this product along with other unusual petitgrain oils is obtainable only from specialist suppliers. Beyond the shores of the Mediterrainean, orange leaves are rarely if ever used for medicinal purposes. Yet they have the same calming action on the nerves as the more commonly used orange flowers, and are therefore helpful for nervous tension, miId depression, palpitations, anxiety, insomnia and migraine of nervous origin. If you live in a region where it is warm enough to grow your own orange tree (preferably the bitter orange variety, as its leaves are belived to be more potent), or if you have a conservatory spacious enough to house a smaller specimen, the leaves amy be gathered for medicinal purposes. To make a nerve calming infusion, put 4-6 fresh orange leaves in a teacup, then add boiling water and leave to infuse for 15 minutes. The usual dosage is 2 - 3 teacupsful of the infusion daily - one to be taken at bedtime. Petitgrain oil, unlike most other essential oils, cannot boast a long history of medicinal use. Until fairly recently, it was used solely as a perfumery material. But it is an interesting oil with similar properties to those of neroli and therefore helpful for nervous tension, anxiety, palpitations. mild depression and other stress-related states. It works best when used in the bath or as a massage oil, especially if combined with other relaxing oils. When blended with detoxifying oils such as juniperberry, grapefruit and fennel, it is effective as a massage oil for fluid retention associated with PMS. In skill care, petitgrain's gentle antiseptic properties make it helpful for spotty skin and also dandruff associated with greasy hair. Use it in facial steam treatments, deep cleansing masks and skin and hair tonics. Adulteration Lemongrass is frequently used as an adulterate or substitute for petitgrain, also synthetic citral, lemon oil, leptospermum citratum, citrus leaf oils & fractions, fatty aldehydes, linalyl acetate, orange terpenes etc.. The Paraguayan petitgrain is very harsh and it has to be deterpenated first; it can then form the base for neroli oil substitute. Petitgrain itself is used to adulterate or as substitute for the very expensive neroli, which is extracted from the flowers of these citrus trees. GRAS Petitgrain oil has GRAS status.

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