AURO-The-Natural-Choice-for-daily-Life-04.2019

ORANGE OIL THE SCENT OF THE CITRUS FRUIT Fresh, fruity, sunny and lemon-like, these pleasant attributes spring to mind when an orange is peeled some- where near. The peel with its ethereal oil perfectly pro- tects the inner fruit. No insect or bird can harm it as long as the peel is intact. Among the citrus fruits, the orange is the one that is cultivated by far the most. Besides Flori- da, the biggest cultivation areas are Brazil, Spain and South Africa. However, the popular fruit originally came from Asia, then became native in Europe in the 15 th cen- tury, and then was brought from Spain to Haiti by Columbus in the year 1493. From there it was distributed in South America. The German name for orange is „Apfelsine“ and still tells a lot about its origin. „Sina“ means China and „Apfelsine“ there- fore means „Chinese apple“. Indeed the fruit was cultivated in China already 2000 BC. The orange oil with its dis- tinctive scent is used in many ways, be it for flavouring juices, in cosmetics, or in technical applications, e.g. as a natural solvent in paints. Extraction of the ethereal oil The ethereal oils contained in the orange peel (the main substance is limonene) have a deodorising effect. The peels are processed by distillation or decating which pro- duces a traditional plant raw material that is mainly used as biogenic solvent in paints and in cleaning, care and maintenance products. The effect is similar to turpentine from resins but with a more pleasant smell. The natural orange oil that is used at AURO is an ethereal oil that is won as a byproduct of the orange juice production in South America. The „snap test“ shows that the oil can mainly be localised in the peel. Snap a piece of peel and see the oil squirt out along the break line. The pro- duction of orange oil leaves big amounts of pesticide-free peel remains that can per- fectly be used as animal food. At AURO, the orange oil is used in many cleaning prod- ucts. The distilled, strongly fragrant parts are used in per- fumes or in aromatherapy, the less fragrant terpene bases as solvent for resins and oils. MULTIPLE USES IN AROMATHERAPY IN PHARMACEUTICALS IN COSMETICS 36