Citrus junos Tanaka/Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck
Aliases：Chéng (Orange), Huáng Chéng (Yellow Orange), Jīn Chéng (Golden Orange), Jīn Qiú (Golden Ball), Hú Ké (Swan Shell). Sweet Orange is also known as Huáng Guǒ (Yellow Fruit), Xīn Huì Chéng (Xinhui Orange), Guǎng Jú (Guang Orange), Xuě Gān (Snow Tangerine), Guǎng Gān (Guang Tangerine). It is also called Jīn Huán (Golden Ring), Gān Zǐ (Tangerine), and Liǔ Dīng (Willow Nail).
Chéng Zi (Orange) is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb. It is the ripe fruit of Citrus junos Tanaka or Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck, plants belonging to the genus Citrus of the family Rutaceae. The plant is an evergreen small tree with round or oblong fruits, orange-yellow peel, and a rough surface with numerous pores. Orange is both a commonly consumed fruit and a medicinal and edible herb.
Efficacy & Actions
Descends counterflow and harmonizes the Stomach; regulates Qi and relieves chest tightness; disperses goiter; relieves intoxication; neutralizes fish and crab toxins.
Indications
Indicated for nausea and vomiting, chest tightness and abdominal distension, goiter (thyroid enlargement), intoxication, and fish or crab poisoning. It may also be used for Stomach Yin deficiency and Stomach Qi disharmony manifesting as thirst, restlessness, poor appetite, and vomiting with reduced food intake. Sweet Orange is used for hypochondriac pain due to Liver Qi stagnation, abdominal distension, insufficient lactation, and breast lumps with swelling and pain in postpartum women.
Modern Pharmacology
Modern pharmacological studies have demonstrated that oranges possess various health benefits. Sweet orange fruit and juice, due to their rich phytochemical composition, exhibit antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Hesperidin, a flavonoid abundant in oranges, exhibits anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant, and lipid-lowering effects. Flavonoid-enriched orange juice can enhance antioxidant defenses and reduce inflammation. Polyphenols in oranges exert antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, reducing the damage of bad cholesterol to blood vessels. Hesperidin also reduces capillary fragility and prevents microvascular bleeding. The abundant vitamin C, vitamin P, and organic acids regulate metabolism and enhance immune function.
Ingredients
Flavonoids: Hesperidin, narirutin, naringin, and others. Organic acids: Citric acid, malic acid, succinic acid, and others. Sugars: Fructose, glucose, and others. Pectin: Rich in pectin. Vitamins: Vitamin C, vitamin P, vitamin B₁, vitamin B₂, and others. Volatile oils: Content 0.1–0.3%, mainly composed of geranial, limonene, and others, containing over 70 components including terpenes, aldehydes, ketones, phenols, alcohols, esters, acids, and coumarins. Others: Limonin, narcotine, proteins, calcium, phosphorus, iron, and others.
Usage & Dosage
For oral administration: eat raw, extract juice for drinking, or decoct in water and take. 1–2 pieces each time. Dried products may be ground into fine powder for consumption. For external use: burn orange seeds and grind into powder, then take with wine; or decoct orange peel in water for fumigation and washing.
Contraindications
Not suitable for patients with Spleen-Stomach deficiency cold—as oranges are cool in nature, they may aggravate symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea. Use with caution in patients with excessive stomach acid or gastric ulcers. Avoid excessive consumption in those with cold constitution or diarrhea. Not suitable for patients with diabetes—as oranges have a high sugar content. Avoid excessive consumption in those with Liver Yin deficiency—excessive consumption may impair Liver Qi. Avoid consuming together with milk, eggs, soy milk, or calcium tablets. Use with caution during menstruation. Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) records: "Excessive consumption damages Liver Qi."
Selected Formulas
For nausea, vomiting, and poor appetite with hiccups (Bencao Gangmu Shiyi) Take orange, cut finely, decoct with salt and honey and drink; or make orange cakes with peel and sugar, steep in water and drink. For breast engorgement with redness, hardness, and pain in women (Diannan Bencao) Take dried orange, grind into powder (2 qian), or fresh orange, crush to extract juice, mix with a little water wine, and drink. For swollen and painful hemorrhoids (Bencao Gangmu, citing Yifang Zhaiyao) Take orange dried over the previous year, burn it inside a bucket, and use the smoke to fumigate the affected area. For constipation and hemorrhoidal bleeding (empirical formula) Take 1 ripe orange, eat in 2 divided portions, 4 times daily. For relieving middle-jiao stuffiness, promoting qi flow, and counteracting alcohol (Xiangcheng Tang, empirical formula) Take 3 jin of large oranges (cracked, pitted, sliced with peel), 5 liang of fresh ginger (peeled, sliced, dried), and grind into a paste. Add 2 liang of honey-fried Gancao powder and 0.5 liang of Tanxiang (Sandalwood) powder, mix and form into cakes, dry and grind into fine powder. Take 1 qian each time, add a little salt, and dissolve in boiling water. For low back pain due to sprain (Shesheng Fang) Take orange seeds, burn and grind, take 3 qian with wine.
Daily Consumption
Raw consumption: Eat fresh directly. It promotes fluid production, quenches thirst, stimulates the appetite, and aids digestion. Juice: Extract fresh orange juice for drinking. May be sweetened with honey to taste. Steamed orange with salt: Make a flat cut at the top of the orange, sprinkle a little salt on the pulp, then steam until cooked. It has a certain relieving effect on cough. Orange decoction: Wash one orange, cut it into sections (with the peel), add a little honey, and decoct for oral administration. Orange cakes: Process oranges into dried orange cakes, which can be stored for a long time and steeped in water for consumption.
Medicinal Parts
Ripe fruit. Orange peel and orange seeds are also used medicinally.
Selection & Storage
Fresh products should be stored in a cool, ventilated place, or refrigerated. Dried products should be stored in a ventilated, dry place, protected from moisture and mold.
