bergamot

This article is about the citrus fruit. For the herbs of the same name, see Monarda didyma and Monarda fistulosa.

Bergamot orange
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Rosids Order: Sapindales Family: Rutaceae Genus: Citrus Species: Citrus bergamia risso x C. medica Subspecies: Citrus bergamia
Trinomial name
Citrus bergamia risso (Risso) Wright & Arn.

A bergamot orange from Calabria, Italy

The bergamot (citrus bergamia risso) is a small and roughly pear-shaped fragrant citrus fruit which is a variety of sour orange native to Asia. Today it is commercially grown in Calabria (Italy), Argentina, Brazil and the USA. Bergamot grows on small trees which blossom during the spring. The distinctive aroma of the bergamot is most commonly known for its use in Earl Grey tea, though the juice of the fruit has also been used in Calabrian indigenous medicine as an herbal remedy for malaria^[1] and its essential oil is popular in aromatherapy applications.

The bergamot orange is unrelated to the herbs of the same name, Monarda didyma and Monarda fistulosa, which are in the mint family.

Etymology

Italian bergamotta, modification of Turkish bey armudu, literally, the bey's pear.

Production

Production mostly is limited to the Ionian coastal region of the province of Calabria in Italy, to such an extent that it is a symbol of the entire region. Most of the bergamot comes from a short stretch of land there where the temperature is favourable. It is also cultivated in Argentina, Brazil and the US state of Georgia, but the quality of the obtained essence is not comparable with the essence produced from the bergamots of Reggio Calabria due to the argillite, limestone and alluvial deposits found there.^{[citation needed]}

Uses

In food

An essence extracted from the aromatic skin of this sour fruit is used to flavour Earl Grey and Lady Grey teas, and confectionery. An Italian food manufacturer, Caffé Sicilia in Noto, Syracuse, Sicily, produces a commercial marmalade using the fruit as its principal ingredient^[2][3]. It is also popular in Greece and Cyprus as a preserve, made with bergamot peel boiled in sugar syrup.

As a fragrance

Bergamot peel is used in perfumery for its ability to combine with an array of scents to form a bouquet of aromas which complement each other. Approximately one third of all men's and about half of women’s perfumes contain bergamot essential oil^{[citation needed]}. Bergamot was a component of the original Eau de Cologne developed in 17th century Germany - in 1704 the bergamot was first used to make the now famous "Eau de toilette" from the bergamot fruit by scooping out the pulp and squeezing the peel into sponges. 100 bergamot oranges will yield about 3 ounces of bergamot oil.^[4]

Bergamot peel is also used in aromatherapy to treat depression and as a digestive aid.^{[citation needed]}

Companion plant

Bergamot's aromatic roots are thought to mask other nearby plants from pests that attack their roots, and so are sometimes grown as a companion in vegetable gardens.

Toxicology

In one study, oil of bergamot has been linked to certain phototoxic^[5] effects (due to the chemical bergaptene) and blocking the absorption of potassium in the intestines.^[6]

Bergamot is also a source of bergamottin which, along with the chemically related compound 6’,7’-dihydroxybergamottin, is believed to be responsible for the grapefruit juice effect in which the consumption of the juice affects the metabolism of a variety of pharmaceutical drugs.^[7]

In sunscreens

In the past psoralen - extracted from bergamot oil - has been used in tanning accelerators and sunscreens. Psoralens penetrate the skin, where they increase the amount of direct DNA damage. This damage is responsible for sunburn and for an increased melanin production.
These substances were known to be photocarcinogenic since 1959,^[8] but they were only banned from sunscreens in 1995.^[9] These photocarcinogenic substances were banned years after they had caused many cases of malignant melanoma and deaths.^[10] Psoralen is now used only in the treatment of certain skin disorders, as part of PUVA therapy.

Neuroprotective effects

Recently, bergamot essential oil has been found to reduce excitotoxic damage to cultured human neuronal cells in vitro and may therefore have neuroprotective properties. ^[11]

Witchcraft

In hoodoo rootwork, bergamot is used to control or command^[12][13], and for this reason is used in a variety of spells and formulas in which a practitioner might wish to subdue another person.

Footnotes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Citrus bergamia

• Bergamot essential oil in aromatherapy - possible therapeutic uses
• BBC news story on the farming of Bergamot in the Calabria region of Italy
• Information about the hard candy bergamote de Nancy