History
Bitter orange or Seville orange, sour orange, bigarade orange, or marmalade orange (Citrus aurantium) is the ancestor of the sweet orange. It is called Seville Orange for the Moors cultivated in large quantities near the town. The name is stuck. Bitter orange is smaller than the sweet orange.
His tree, sour orange tree is a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia that produces a fruit similar to orange, albeit smaller and more bitter. He then came to Syria, Egypt and Europe in the Mediterranean region during the Crusades.
Father Labat refers in his writings from the 17th century: "The sour oranges or as told to the islands, acid oranges are the most common and least estimated. It is used for sauces and to put on meat and fish".
Varieties
There are different varieties but the number is unknown. The bitter orange tree is a tree 15 meters in continuous bloom. Its leaves are persistent with a thorn in the axils of the lower leaves.
The fruit looks like an orange although having a thick rough rind, sometimes green, yellow or orange. It can be ripe and with a green bark. This is also the case in Martinique. Under its thick white bark, it contains various slices wrapped in a thin white skin. The yellowish pulp has many seeds.
Depending on the variety, the fruit is more or less rough and flat, the pulp contained in 10 to 12 quarters, is bitter. It is smaller (7 to 8 cm in diameter) than sweet orange, sometimes orange-tinged with green or yellow.
Health benefits
Bitter orange has many medicinal properties. It stimulates the appetite, acts effectively in treating insomnia and anxiety and warns of bleeding of hypertensive origin.
It promotes weight loss, and treats dyspepsia, overwork and melancholy.
It has anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties.
The bitter orange as a citrus is a natural source of vitamin C and helps to be tonic.
It can also be used in the treatment of acne or furuncle skin disorders.
Uses
In Martinique, it is also used to "clean fish" instead of lemon or to prepare seasonings for meats. In the rest of the world, it is mainly used in cans or the preparation of jam, marmalade or syrup.
Very fragrant, sour orange is used in the manufacture of orange blossom water, neroli water used in perfumery. The zest is used to make curaçao, bitters, Grand Marnier and Cointreau.
Bitter orange is used in the mixture of fat-burning capsules.
The fruit and leaves make a lather and can be used as soap. The hard, white or light-yellow wood is used in woodworking and made into baseball bats in Cuba.
