| ≥1 piece |
synephrine (or oxedrine) is a drug commonly used for weight loss. While its effectiveness is widely debated, synephrine has gained significant popularity as an alternative to ephedrine, a related substance which has been made illegal or restricted in many countries due to health risks and its use as a precursor in the illicit manufacturing of methamphetamine. There is however no occurrence of diverted synephrine for the manufacture of amphetamines, and the naturally occurring synephrine is, due to its phenolic group, unsuitable for such diversion. Products containing bitter orange or synephrine are suspected of causing adverse cardiovascular reactions. Synephrine is derived primarily from the immature fruit of Citrus aurantium, a relatively small citrus tree, of which several of its more common names include Bitter Orange, Sour Orange, and Zhi shi. Dietary supplements generally supply single oral doses of 3–30 mg, while as a pharmaceutical agent it is given orally or by parenteral injection in 20–100 mg doses as a vasoconstrictor to hypotensive patients.