Bergamot (Citrus bergamia Risso) is a sour citrus grown almost entirely in one place: a narrow coastal strip in the province of Reggio Calabria, at the southern tip of the Italian peninsula. About 90% of the world's bergamot comes from here.
Bergamot oil is cold pressed from the peel, without heat. It is the top note of cologne type perfumes and of the chypre family, and the flavour of Earl Grey tea. Since 2001 the name "Bergamotto di Reggio Calabria, olio essenziale" has been protected in the EU as a DOP (protected designation of origin).
Calabria also presses oils from other citrus such as lemon, bitter orange and mandarin, but bergamot is the plant that defines the region in perfumery.
| World share | ~90% (EastFruit 2026) |
| Area | ~1.200 ha |
| Fruit | ~19,800 t a year (198,000 quintals) |
| Oil | 100–150 t per year |
| Yield (DOP) | 350–750 g oil / 100 kg fruit |
| Designation | DOP olio essenziale · Reg. (CE) 509/2001 |
The DOP area is a coastal strip about 100 km long, from Villa San Giovanni on the Strait of Messina round the southern cape to Gioiosa Jonica on the Ionian shore, reaching only a few kilometres inland.
In 2026 the area held about 1,200 hectares of bergamot, averaging some 19,800 tonnes of fruit a year, with about 6,000 people employed in the sector. Published estimates of oil output range from about 70 to 125 tonnes a year, depending on the season. DOP rules cap planting density at 450 trees per hectare and yield at 400 quintals of fruit per hectare.
The DOP recognises three cultivars: Femminello, Castagnaro and Fantastico.
In February 2026 an application for a PGI for fresh bergamot fruit was forwarded to the EU; as of July 2026 the procedure was still under way.
Fruit is picked from November to March. About 200 kg of fruit gives 1 kg of oil.
The oil sits in small glands in the outer peel. It was once pressed out by hand into sponges. In 1844, under the Bourbon kingdom, Nicola Barilla and Luigi Autieri won a mechanisation contest with the "Calabrian machine", which rasped the peel; Domenico Carbone improved it in 1875.
Today most oil comes from pelatrice machines: whole fruit is rasped on abrasive rollers under water sprays, giving an oil and water emulsion that is then split in a centrifuge. DOP rules require cold extraction and centrifugal separation.
ISO 3520:2022 sets a chromatographic profile for Calabrian type bergamot oil: limonene 32 to 47%, linalyl acetate 22 to 36%, linalool 3 to 15%, gamma terpinene 6 to 10%, beta pinene 4 to 8.5%. The standard defines the oil as obtained without heat, by mechanical means, from the fresh peel of fruit picked in Calabria.
About 4 to 7% of pressed oil by weight is non volatile, including coumarins and furocoumarins such as bergapten and bergamottin. This fraction adds nothing to the scent but governs safety on skin.
Linalool and linalyl acetate in genuine bergamot occur almost entirely as one optical isomer, whereas synthetic material is racemic. Chiral gas chromatography is the standard check for oil cut with synthetic linalool, linalyl acetate or cheaper orange and lemon oils.
Bergapten (5 methoxypsoralen) is phototoxic: skin that meets it and then UV light can redden, blister and keep long lasting dark marks. IFRA therefore restricts expressed bergamot oil in leave on skin products, with total furocoumarins (as bergapten) at no more than 0.0015%, which corresponds to about 0.4% of expressed bergamot oil. The limit does not apply to rinse off products.
Bergamot FCF (furocoumarin free) or "bergapten free" oil is treated to remove furocoumarins, usually by vacuum distillation or alkaline treatment. The scent is largely kept, but the oil loses its non volatile fraction, so it keeps its colour better and carries no phototoxicity limit.
Check the exact values against the current IFRA Standard before formulating.
"Bergamotto di Reggio Calabria, olio essenziale" was registered as a DOP by Regulation (EC) No 509/2001 in March 2001. The name may be used only for cold pressed oil from the three listed cultivars, grown and processed in the DOP area, at a yield of 350 to 750 grams of oil per 100 kg of fruit. A protection consortium (Consorzio di Tutela) oversees the name.
"Calabrian bergamot" on a label does not mean certified DOP oil; most bergamot oil on the market is sold without DOP certification.
| Plant | Botanical | Area | Season | Part | Marker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bergamot | Citrus bergamia | Reggio Calabria, Villa San Giovanni–Gioiosa Jonica | November–March | Peel | limonene 32–47%, linalyl acetate 22–36%, linalool 3–15% |
| Bergamot · Bergamot FCF · Bergamot · Bergamot fcf | Expressed oil and furocoumarin-free oil |
| Wild bergamot · Bergamot mint · Bergamot wild · Mint bergamot | Same name but a different species (Monarda, Mentha), not bergamot orange |
| Lemon · Bitter orange · Mandarin · Lemon expressed · Orange bitter · Mandarin | Other expressed citrus oils of Calabria |
| Key molecules · Bergapten · Bergamottin · Linalool · Linalyl acetate · Limonene | ISO 3520 specification and the source of phototoxicity |
Updated 09/2026. Figures follow the year stated in each source.
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