Citrus aurantium (Seville orange, Bergamot, Bitter orange or Sour orange)

Hybrid between Pummelo Citrus grandis and Mandarin Citrus reticulata.

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Eudicotyledons > Core Eudicots > Rosids > Eurosid II > Order: Sapindales > Family: Rutaceae > Genus: Citrus

Citrus aurantium orginated in China and seems to have entered the written record there by 300 BC. Because of its sour and bitter taste, Sour orange is not usually eaten raw but used for: (1) making marmalade and candied peel; (2) producing essential oils for use in soaps and perfume; (3) scenting tea using the flower buds; and (4) fruit extracts are used to flavour soft drinks and the aromatic oil is used in distilling certain liqueurs. Bergamot yields oil from the flowers which is used in perfumery (e.g. in Eau de Cologne), and which is the substance added to Earl Grey tea to give it that distinctive flavour.

Citrus aurantium orginated in China and seems to have entered the written record there by 300 BC. It is recorded from Japan by about 100 AD. By about 100 BC, Sour orange seeds appear to have reached Rome.

Because of its sour and bitter taste, Sour Orange is not eaten raw but used for: (1) making marmalade and candied peel; (2) producing essential oils for use in soaps and perfume; and (3) scenting tea using the flower buds; and (4) ruit extracts are used to flavour soft drinks and the aromatic oil is used in distilling certain liqueurs such as Curaçao, Cointreau and Grand Marnier.

Bergamot is sometimes placed in a separate species Citrus bergamia, but is otherwise considered to be a variety of Citrus aurantium. Bergamot yields oil from the flowers which is used in perfumery (e.g. in Eau de Cologne, developed in Cologne, Germany in 1676), and which is the substance added to Earl Grey tea (first produced about 1830) to give it that distinctive flavour.

Publications

• Brown, D. 2002. The Royal Horticultural Society New Encyclopedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London.

• Sauer, J.D. 1993. Historical geography of crop plants - a select roster. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.