Citrus bergamia, Risso: the peel, the juice and the seed oil of the bergamot fruit of Reggio Calabria (South Italy)

Bergamot is a characteristic citrus fruit of the province of Reggio Calabria (South Italy) and until today it was mainly known for the production of its peel essential oil. Since some year, due to the positive feedback from consumers, there has been a growing interest in the bergamot juice which in the past was not used as a beverage because it was considered very sour. The recent studies on the functional aspects of citrus fruits and therefore also on bergamot have made this fruit known to a new youth. They exist three cultivars: Castagnaro, Fantastico and Femminello. In this study the biometrics of the fruits and the physico-chemical characteristics of the juice have been taken into consideration, such as: Brix degrees, pH, pulp content in the squeezed juice, turbidity, acidity, vitamin C, Formol number, single and total flavonoids. Total flavonoids in the bergamot juice ranged between 362 and 520 mg/L whereas in the Cloudy juice they ranged between 4660 and 8468 mg/L. The composition in fatty acids and in sterols of the seed oil of this fruit was also analysed to evaluate its potential. Oleic acid (30.15-34.36%) and linoleic acid (27.01-29.84%) were found in similar quantity, while the most present sterol was beta-sitosterol (76.9-79.2%).