Aurantii amari epicarpium et mesocarpium

Aurantii amari epicarpium, also known as bitter orange peel, is a drug used in herbal medicinal products for the treatment of dyspeptic complaints and loss of appetite.

Listed in the European Pharmacopoeia.

HMPC: not processed

ESCOP: not processed

Commission E Monograph: Dyspeptic complaints and loss of appetite

Folk: Dyspepticcomplaints, stomach cramps, vomiting.

No scientific evidence of efficacy to date.

Due to its ß-synephrine content, it is also used as a slimming agent (fat burner) and dietary supplement for athletes to improve performance, also in combination with caffeine. This can lead to serious cardiovascular incidents and even death. A corresponding warning has been issued by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (see literature reference).

The bitter orange peels monographed by Commission E contain up to 2% essential oil, bitter and non-bitter tasting flavonoids(hesperetin, naringin) and furanocoumarins. The drug must have a bitter value of at least 600 and contain 2% essential oil (n. Ph. Eur.8).

bitter orange peel stimulates the appetite, increases the secretion of gastric juices and has an antispasmodic effect. The effects of the flavonoids have been demonstrated in numerous experimental studies. The substance neohesperetin, a component of bitter orange peel that plays a key role in its effectiveness, has an apoptosis-promoting and neuroprotective effect and has been shown experimentally to inhibit beta-amyloid aggregation (see amyloid below) in the central nervous system.

Also used as a flavoring agent in the food and pharmaceutical industries, especially in gastrointestinal preparations.

The average daily dose of the drug is 4 to 6 g, 2 to 3 g for a tincture and 1 to 2 g for dry extracts.

Due to the furanocoumarins, photosensitization may occur, especially in fair-skinned patients. This has not yet been observed when taking tea preparations.

There are no known contraindications.

There are no known interactions with other medications. However, a daily dose of more than 6 g may result in reduced absorption of ciclosporin.

Bitter orange peels are particularly well suited as a flavour correction. Bitter orange peels without essential oil are of inferior quality, but are easy to recognize. Bitter orange peel is interchangeable with orange peel.

1. Bharti S et al. (2014) Preclinical evidence for the pharmacological actions of naringin: a review. Planta Med 80:437-451.
2. Ho SL et al.(2015) Inhibition Of β-amyloid Aggregation By Albiflorin, Aloeemodin And Neohesperidin And Their Neuroprotective Effect On Primary Hippocampal Cells Against β-amyloid Induced Toxicity. Curr Alzheimer Res 12:424-433.
3. Jia S et al. (2015) Hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of neohesperidin derived from Citrus aurantium L. in diabetic KK-A(y) mice. Food Funct 6:878-886.
4. Schilcher H (2016) In: Leitfaden Phytotherapie, Urban & Fischer Verlag Munich, p. 253 f.
5. Szentmihályi K et al. (2015) Antioxidant value and element content in some tinctures used in medication. Acta Biol Hung 66:293-303.
6. Xu F et al.(2012) Neohesperidin induces cellular apoptosis human breast adenocarcinoma MDA-MB-231 cells via activating the Bcl-2/Bax-mediated signaling pathway. Nat Prod Commun 7:1475-1478.
7. Blaschek W (2015) Wichtl-Teedrogens and phytopharmaceuticals. A handbook for practice. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft Munich. S 99-101
8. https://www.bfr.bund.de/cm/343/gesundheitliche-bewertung-von-synephrin-und-koffeinhaltigen-sportlerprodukten-und-schlankheitsmitteln.pdf