How to extract the essential oil of orange

How to extract the essential oil of orange

For the extraction of the essential oil of orange it is necessary to start from the rind of the ripe fruits through the process of squeezing or distillation. You can use both sweet orange fruits (Citrus sinensis L.) and bitter orange (Citrus × aurantium L.). obviously the properties of the two essential oils have differences. The essential oil of sweet orange has calming, sedative and digestive properties while that of bitter orange, astringent and metabolic stimulants.
Although the purity of the essential oil of homemade orange is lower than that obtained at the industrial level, its effectiveness is similar.

The starting point is obviously the orange peel to be cut into strips with a part of the albedo (the white part), to be dried naturally away from sources of moisture on a non-metallic surface (excellent a cutting board). The process will take a few days.
Once dried they go into small pieces with a small knife and placed in a glass jar. Separately, take the vodka to be heated by placing the bottle in a pot full of hot tap water and the canvas wake for a few minutes, pouring it into the glass jar at the end so as to completely cover the orange peel. Once the vodka peel is covered, the jar should be closed with an airtight cap and stirred several times in order to allow the vodka to extract the essential oils.
After about a week of this process everything must be filtered in dark bottles and the operation should be done with a cloth (better linen or cotton not treated, colored or washed with polluting detergents).
At this point cover the flasks (or bottles) with a kitchen towel for a few days, so that the alcohol can evaporate. After a couple of days of rest, the essential oil of orange will be ready for all uses and methods that this very important oil allows.