The name "bitter orange", also known as Seville orange, sour orange, bigarade orange, and marmalade orange, refers to a citrus tree (Citrus × aurantium) and its fruit. It is hybrid between Citrus maxima and Citrus reticulata. Many varieties of bitter orange are used for their essential oil, which is used in perfume, as a flavoring and as a solvent. The Seville orange variety is used in the production of marmalade.
Bitter orange is also employed in herbal medicine as a stimulant and appetite suppressant. The active ingredient, synephrine, has been linked to a number of deaths, and consumer groups advocate avoiding medicinal use of the fruit.
Famous quotes containing the words bitter and/or orange:
“Tell me, how many hands have palpated the pulp that has grown so generously around your hard, bitter little soul?”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“He hangs in shades the orange bright,
Like golden lamps in a green night,
And does in the pomegranates close
Jewels more rich than Ormus shows;
He makes the figs our mouths to meet,
And throws the melons at our feet;
But apples plants of such a price
No tree could ever bear them twice.”
—Andrew Marvell (1621–1678)