Witnessed by: TCM · Unani
Mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata), of the Rutaceae family. Small thorny evergreen tree with glossy leaves and fragrant white blossom; native range: southern China and north-east India; anciently cultivated across monsoon Asia. Globally recognized as sangtara / santra in Hindi, ripe peel: chen pi (陳皮); green peel: qing pi (青皮) in Chinese, naranj / sangtara in Arabic, and tangerine, satsuma, aged tangerine peel in English. The part used is ripe peel (chen pi) and unripe green peel (qing pi); the fruit eaten as food. Loose-skinned fruit peeling easily to sweet-sour juicy segments; the dried ripe peel curls into brittle red-orange strips, dotted with oil glands, aromatic and warmly pungent-bitter when broken.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
MANDARIN ORANGE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Mandarin orange
- Scientific name
- Citrus reticulata Blanco
- Family
- Rutaceae
Form
- Part used
- ripe peel (chen pi) and unripe green peel (qing pi); the fruit eaten as food
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- pungent · bitter (aromatic)
- Unani
- sweet · sour
Temperature
- TCM
- warm
- Unani
- cold (slightly)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Spleen · Lung · Stomach
- Unani
- stomach · heart · liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- chen pi regulates qi (li qi), strengthens the spleen (jian pi), dries dampness (zao shi) and transforms phlegm (hua tan), harmonizing the middle and checking nausea; the green peel qing pi spreads Liver qi, breaks qi stagnation and disperses food accumulation
- Unani
- muqawwi-e-meda (stomachic) and muqawwi-e-qalb (cardiac tonic), mufarreh (exhilarant) and musakkin-e-safra (calms bilious heat), quenching thirst; the warm rind carminative for wind
Cautions
- Contraindications
- yin-deficiency with dry cough, or heat patterns with scanty fluids and a red tongue; qing pi cautioned where qi and yin are deficient
- Toxicity
- non-toxic; the drying, dispersing peel depletes qi and fluids if overused
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