MANDARIN - essential oil

Mandarin is also known as Robson and is a small citrus tree with fruit resembling oranges. Mandarins are one of the four core ancestral citruses, and are thought to have evolved in Vietnam, south China and Japan. The tree is more drought-tolerant than the fruit, which is tender and damaged easily by cold. It can be grown in tropical and subtropical areas.

The mandarin, the citron, the pomelo and the papeda are the four ancestors of most other commercial citrus varieties seen today; mandarins are therefore all the more important as the only sweet fruit among the parental species.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the dried peel of the fruit is used in the regulation of chi, to treat abdominal distension, to enhance digestion, and to reduce phlegm. Mandarins have also been used in Indian ayruvedic medicine. During Chinese New Year, mandarin oranges are considered traditional symbols of abundance and good fortune. Tangerines are a pure type of mandarin.

Health benefits
• Anti-septic: fungal and bacterial topical wound infections, stomach
• Anti-spasmodic: respiratory (coughs), digestive (intestinal), muscular
• Increases circulation: blood, lymph
• Depurative: purifies blood by helping remove toxic substances by excretion through - urine, faecal matter and sweat (eg abscesses, boils, acne, gout, arthritis)
• Digestive: increases appetite, digestive juices, bile, strengthens the liver, diarrhoea, constipation, gas
• Stress, anxiety, epilepsy, hysteria, convulsions
• Wound healing: promotes growth of new cells and tissues
• Tonic: boosts immune, respiratory, digestive, cardiovascular, circulatory, nervous, excretory, nervous, and endocrine systems
• Sedative: nervous system, inflammation
• Skin: scars, stretch marks, maintains moisture balance in the skin

Warning: May cause photo-sensitivity (use cautiously before spending extended periods in sunlight) and may produce irritation in some skin types.