Bergamot in Perfumery: The Green Gold of Calabria and Queen of Hesperides
Before going into more detail about bergamot, its history, and its olfactory description, let’s go back to the basics of perfume to fully understand how this fruit is used. A perfume is complex, refined, delicate, but above all, it is a set of notes that have been chosen for their ephemeral or tenacious side.
Bergamot’s Place in the Olfactory Pyramid
Perfume is very often represented in the form of an olfactory pyramid whose tip is constituted by top notes, then in the middle part heart notes and the base base notes.
The hesperidic facet is present in almost all perfumes. It dresses the perfume in top notes, it is volatile, therefore not very tenacious and gives a smile to the perfume. It is present in Eaux de Toilette, Eaux de Parfum, feminine or masculine fragrances.
Of course, it is found in larger quantities in Eaux de Cologne or Eaux Fraîches, it then becomes the main theme and thus determines the hesperidic family which contains lemon, bergamot, orange, or even grapefruit and lime.
Bergamot: A Bit of History on the Tree and the Plant
The bergamot tree was brought back from the Canary Islands to Spain by Christopher Columbus. It is said that the origin of its name comes from the Turkish beg-armûdi meaning “pear of the lord” or that bergamot takes its name from the city of Bergamo where it was originally cultivated.
Bergamot comes from a tree, the bergamot tree Citrus Bergamia. The fruit is first green then yellow. It has been cultivated for 600 years in Calabria, in southern Italy, with a production of about 100 tons per year.
Bergamot is also found in Ivory Coast and South Africa. It is a harvest done by hand because the fruits are very fragile. The harvest begins in November and ends in January.
Culture and Botany
It is a hybrid of the lemon tree and the bitter orange tree which is cultivated for the essential oil of its fruit and its petitgrain (essential oils of the leaf). The fruit weighs from 80 grams to 200 grams. This shrub produces fruits whose pulp is not consumed because it is too bitter.
However, local products based on bergamot are found in Calabria, such as the liqueur called Limoncello where lemon is replaced by bergamot. Only the zest is used for perfumery, cosmetics, and for some food products.
Extraction: Bergamot Essential Oil
It is cold extracted with huge machines called pellatrices. Fresh bergamots are stored for 2 to 3 days so that the fruits warm up and so that the skin of the zest softens.
The essential oil of bergamots which is rejected from these presses is dark green, its scent is delicious and powerful but then this essence will be treated to become golden to transparent in color. It will then be called rectified essential oil.
Among other things, phototoxic components such as bergapten, which caused many spots on the skin in the past (especially when it had been incorporated into sun products like Bergasol), will be removed.
Now, these bergaptenes are removed from all citrus fruits.
Olfactory Description and Use
It takes 200 kilos of fruit to obtain 1 kilo of essence. It is called the “fine flower of hesperides” for its extremely elegant note, very faceted: tonic, nervous, fruity, green, slightly floral, acidic, bitter, but also sweet and round. The scent of bergamot is a perfume in itself. Its constituents, linalyl acetate and linalool, give it a very fresh and lavender note.
The Communelle: In order to have constant quality, suppliers mix several qualities of bergamot, more or less ripe, coming from different plots in Reggio di Calabria. This is called a communelle (blend). The quality of citrus fruits is dependent on the period in which it is harvested, more floral or fresher depending on the months.
Other uses: Let’s mention the specialty of Nancy, bergamot candies, as well as the scent of Earl Grey tea, which benefit from this delicious aroma. The skin of this citrus fruit was widely used in the 18th century for the creation of sumptuous decorated boxes that can be admired at the Grasse museum.
Properties and Bergamot Perfumes
Bergamot essential oil possesses calming, antiseptic, anti-spasmodic properties and virtues. It is also effective against insomnia. Finding a fragrance in perfumery worked essentially around bergamot is difficult because by definition bergamot is a very fleeting scent.
Perfumes essentially containing bergamot:
- Bergamote Calabria – Guerlain
- Bergamote 22 – Le Labo
- Bergamote Soleil – Atelier Cologne
