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A Trip through the Bergamot Fields

Written By: Angela gembrin

In May, some of the Eden Botanicals staff spent the month in Italy sourcing new Essential Oils, evaluating farms, production practices and fulfilling our promise of quality. One of the most important Essential Oils we were looking at was the perennial favorite Bergamot, with its long, rich history of use in natural perfumery, asthe perfume of Earl Gray Tea and as component of many ancient wellbeing traditions.

...farmers have found the land to be the ideal growing location for Bergamot.

Our journey began in the Southern region of Italy known as Calabria, where over the centuries farmers have found the land to be the ideal growing location for Bergamot. Of all the places in the world, this tiny strip of land near the Tyrrhenian and Ionian coasts contains the right conditions to produce the highest quality oil. Since the eighteenth century Bergamot (properly known as Citrus bergamia) has been cultivated in Calabria. It is not easy to establish how the Bergamot plant reached this region, as even the etymology of the word "Bergamot" is uncertain. Some clues to the origin of Bergamot can be found in Turkey and Spain. The modern word for the tree can be translated as "Pear of the Prince." It has been suggested that another clue to the plant’s origin might possibly be found in the name of the Spanish city of Berga. The first important botanical work where we find Bergamot Essential Oil mentioned is in the book Nürbergisches Hesperides  by Johann Christopher Volkamer, (Nuremberg, 1708-1711); he wrote that Italians used the peels of the fruit to obtain a "very fine essence."

Bergamot cultivation has been attempted in many places around the world. The first known historical use of Bergamot began with perfumery when the King of France, Louis XIV was captivated by its scent after it had been brought into the court of the Sun King by Francesco Procopio De' Coltelli, a Sicilian nobleman. In 1693, the creation of the eau de toilette "Aqua Mirabilis" (later known as "Eau de Cologne") by the Italian barber Giovanni Paolo de Feminis increased the fame of Bergamot Essential Oil and ensured its place in the history of perfumery. There is truly no better oil than that produced in Calabria. The peculiar microclimate with its sunny summers and mild winters, the beginning of Spring and Autumn with abundant rains, the local geography that offers protection from wind, combine with the clay, calcareous and alluvial soils to allow this plant to flourish. This is a "magical" area that covers no more than 100 square kilometers (about 40 square miles). It is common to hear the people of Calabria speak of Bergamot as "green gold" or " the prince of the citrus genus."

The Bergamot tree is considered a plant of hybrid origin. Some suggest that it is a hybrid between sour orange (C. aurantium L.) and lemon (C.limon L. Burm Fam.). Others consider the Bergamot to be a hybrid between sour orange (C. aurantium L.) and lime (C. aurantiifolia). Three groups of Bergamot are recognized: the common group, Melarosa (with fruits rather flattened), Torulosa group (where the fruit surface appears to have ridges), and the Piccola group (dwarf type). The plant was given its botanical name Citrus bergamia when it was classified in the work Histoire Naturelle des Orangers by Antoine Joseph Risso and Alexandre Poiteau (1818).

This delightful little tree is pruned to grow no taller than twelve to sixteen feet. The tree blooms from April to May, producing delicate white flowers with five petals. From November to December and sometimes extending into March, you will find Bergamot trees bulging with fruit ready to harvest.

Bergamot Essential Oil has a very characteristic composition that differs from all the other citrus peel oils. More than 350 different constituents have been identified in Bergamot essential oil.  The Melarosa or common group is the one cultivated for the essential oil. There are three varieties of Citrus x bergamia grown in Calabria: Castagnaro, Femminello and Fantastico. The Bergamot variety that interests us most is the ancient and highly productive Fantastico, which produces the highest quality Essential Oil and can be distinguished by its slightly larger leaves as well its smooth, globular and slightly pear shaped fruit. Its oil is produced form the peel and considered to be the best available in the world thus being the Bergamot of choice supplied by Eden Botanicals.

References:

"Citrus Bergamia: Bergamot and its Derivatives,"　Dugo,Giovanni and Ivana Bonaccorsi, eds., Medicinal and aromatic plants - Industrial profile, CRC Press - Taylor & Francis Group, 2014.

Il Bergamotto (The Bergamot), by Michele De Luca, Laruffa Editore, 2014.