Orange

lat. Citrus sinensis

Group: Citrus

Odor profile: sweet hesperide, juicy, succulent, between mandarin and pomelo, small facet of astringency.

Orange is a citrus fruit and a hybrid between pomelo and mandarin. This evergreen flowery tree is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world. Also known as the sweet orange, this tree delivers a delicious sweet fruit hesperidium fruit, which is actually a type of berry. Most commonly, the fruit of orange is eaten out of hand or processed to extract the orange juice.

Even though oranges remind us of distant tropical islands and exotic rainy forests, the sweet orange doesn’t occur in the wild. This hybrid species had been first cultivated in southern China and Europeans became acquainted with it in the 11th century, and used it widely for medical purposes. Italian traders have spread the seed to the Mediterranean area in mid 15th century, and since then the sweet orange has rapidly spread all around the globe, being quickly adopted as a delicious juicy fruit. The sailors from the Old Continent planted Oranges along their trade routes to prevent scurvy - same as the pirates of the Caribbean used lemon and rum, to make their favorite alcoholic beverage (and a natural remedy) called Grog. People of the freshly discovered Americas have introduced rum to the old Europe, while Europeans (Christopher Columbus himself!) brought the seeds of oranges, lemons and citrons to the Caribbean.

The most popular product made from oranges is the orange juice, obtained from freshly squeezed and filtered juicy flesh of the fruit. One of the most precious by-products of the juice industry is the sweet orange oil, produced by cold-pressing the fragrant peel. Sweet orange oil is mainly composed of d-limonene, a compound that gives all citrus fruits their recognizable fresh and sweet aroma. Sweet orange oil, a product of the Citrus sinesis, has a delicious sweet, fruity, fresh and tangy smell, which makes it one of the most commonly used aromatic ingredients in perfume industry, especially in floral and Cologne type fragrances.

There are many different variants of orange and each of them possesses different olfactory properties. Bitter Orange, Blood Orange, Orange Blossoms and Mandarin Orange are most commonly found in fragrant compositions. Orange blossom and neroli are extracted from the flowers of the bitter orange tree (also known as Sevile orange or Citrus aurantium). The only difference between them is that orange blossom is extracted using the volatile solvents, while neroli is steam-distilled. Neroli has a wonderful and heady refreshing but spicy floral aroma, which makes it a great addition to all kinds of floral compositions, eau de colognes and skin-care products. Another derivate from bitter orange is the bitter orange oil that has a distinctive citrusy aroma placed somewhere in the middle of sweet orange and bitter grape. The leaves of bitter orange, as well as the flower buds, are steam-distilled to produce petitgrain, an essential oil that has a greenish woody orange scent.

A wonderful vintage creation from 1905, Coty L`Origan by Coty, combines sweet chords of oranges and spicy and powdery woody accords in a brilliant and rich floral composition. Another wonderful vintage fragrance that uses orange in the top notes is Creed's Orange Spice from 1950. This fresh and aromatic perfume offers a wonderful uplifting blend of oranges and bergamot laid on a spicy ambergris base. Among the contemporary fragrances I would single out fantastic unisex Orange Sanguine cologne by Atelier Cologne, followed by vibrant and cheerful Clinique Happy, and oriental fougere Elixir des Merveilles by Hermes.

Other fragrances containing Orange note can be found listed below this article.