What is it?
The essential oil steam-distilled from the leaves and small twigs of the bitter orange tree, Citrus aurantium var. amara. It is used as a fragrance in perfumes, skin care, hair care and bath products, and as a food flavoring. The same tree gives two other oils: neroli, from the flowers, and bitter orange oil, pressed from the peel of the fruit.
Key information
- The Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel concluded that bitter orange leaf/twig oil is safe as used in cosmetics when formulated to be non-irritating and non-sensitizing.
- Its main components are linalyl acetate (about 47 to 71 percent) and linalool (about 12 to 25 percent).
- Unlike pressed bitter orange peel oil, it is not among the oils IFRA restricts for furocoumarins, the compounds behind citrus sun reactions.
- Petitgrain bigarade oil is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) as a food flavoring in the U.S.
More information
According to the Food Chemicals Codex, cited by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), petitgrain oil of the Paraguay type is steam-distilled from the leaves and small twigs of bitter orange and contains 45 to 60 percent esters, calculated as linalyl acetate. Analyses summarized by CIR put linalyl acetate at about 47 to 71 percent and linalool at about 12 to 25 percent, with smaller amounts of alpha-terpineol, geranyl acetate, geraniol and limonene.
In its 2017 final report on Citrus plant- and seed-derived ingredients, the CIR Expert Panel concluded that Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Leaf/Twig Oil is safe in the present practices of use and concentration when formulated to be non-irritating and non-sensitizing. The oil did not irritate or sensitize skin in human tests at up to 8 percent, and the undiluted oil did not cause photosensitization in hairless mice or miniature swine. Reported use concentrations were very low, up to 0.0032 percent in leave-on products, and the panel noted that the oil is GRAS as a food flavoring.
On allergy, the EU’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety found several positive patch tests to bitter orange leaf oil in two patient series from one clinic, not enough to class it as an established allergen. Its main component, linalyl acetate, was added in 2023 to the EU list of fragrance allergens that must be named on labels above 0.001 percent in leave-on or 0.01 percent in rinse-off products; limonene is also on that list. Pressed bitter orange peel oil, which IFRA restricts because its furocoumarins can cause sun reactions, is a different oil, and so is Neroli Oil, from the flowers of the same tree.
Sources: Cosmetic Ingredient Review: Safety assessment of Citrus plant- and seed-derived ingredients as used in cosmetics (final report, 2017); SCCS: Opinion on fragrance allergens in cosmetic products (2012); Official Journal of the EU: Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 on labelling of fragrance allergens; IFRA: The complete IFRA Standards, up to and including the 51st Amendment
