Bergamot is the fruit of the bergamot tree, a tree belonging to the Rutaceae family. It looks like a small orange with green color when immature and yellow when ripe. This fruit is mainly grown in Calabria, Italy. Very popular in gastronomy, bergamot subtly flavors the fish and shellfish dishes of great chefs, gives a unique taste to Earl Gray tea and to madeleines from Commercy. It is also the base ingredient of the eau de cologne.
In phytotherapy, the whole fruit, the juice and the peel of the fruit are used, as well as the essential oil of the peel.
Bergamot essential oil mainly contains monoterpenes such as linalyl acetate, limonene, alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, and gamma-terpinene, and monoterpene alcohols such as nerol, geraniol, and linalool . It takes 100 kg of fresh peel to obtain 500 g of oil. As for bergamot juice, it is particularly rich in polyphenols (LAURO & al., 2015). These different chemical constituents are responsible for the beneficial biological activities of bergamot for the organism (TUNDIS & al., 2012 ; RUSSO & al., 2014).
Inhaling bergamot essential oil exhibits anxiolytic, sedative, and calming effects. It limits anxiety in rats during elevated maze and hole board behavioral tests in a manner similar to diazepam and reduces corticosterone levels during acute stress (SAIYUDTHONG & MARSDEN, 2011). Furthermore, in chronically stressed rats, inhalation of bergamot essential oil decreased depressive-like behavior in the forced swim test similarly to fluoxetine (SAIYUDTHONG & MEKSEEPRALARD, 2015).
A study of 57 participants at a mental health treatment center in the United States found that exposure to bergamot essential oil for 15 minutes improved positive feelings (measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Scale) of the participants compared to the control group. The authors suggest that aromatherapy with bergamot essential oil can be an effective adjunctive treatment to improve the mental health and well-being of interned individuals (HAN & al., 2017).
Bergamot essential oil is used for its pain-relieving effects. It limits chronic neuropathic pain via modulation of sensitive pain perception in different animal models such as heat-related pain or carrageenan-induced inflammation (LAURO & al., 2015). In addition, it decreases the nociceptive behavioral response induced by an intraplantar injection of capsaicin. This effect is mediated by opioid receptors (SAKURADA & al., 2011).
Bergamot essential oil exhibits neuroprotective effects in experimental cerebral ischemia (BAGETTA & al., 2010). Indeed, it leads to a significant reduction in the extension of the infarction throughout the brain, in particular in the medial striatum and the motor cortex. It does not affect basal amino acid levels, but significantly reduces the efflux of excitatory amino acids seen after middle cerebral artery occlusion in the fronto-parietal cortex (AMANTEA & al., 2009).
Bergamot essential oil exhibits good antioxidant activity assessed by the β-carotene bleaching test (TUNDIS & al., 2012).
Bergamot essential oil has an antitumor effect. In particular, it exhibits a cytotoxic and antiproliferative effect against SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells by a mechanism linked to apoptotic and necrotic cell death. One of the bioactive molecules playing a role in these effects is 5-geranyloxy-7-methoxycoumarin (NAVARRA & al., 2015).
Bergamot essential oil inhibits the growth of several bacteria, including Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli O157 and Campylobacter jejuni. Its action seems more intense on Gram-positive bacteria than on Gram-negative bacteria in vitro. It has stronger inhibitory activity than lemon and sweet orange essential oils. This action is explained in particular by its linalool concentration, which is an effective antibacterial component (FISHER & PHILLIPS, 2006). It also exhibits broad-spectrum antifungal activity against various species including Kluyveromyces fragilis, Rhodotorula rubra, Candida albicans, Hanseniaspora guilliermondii and Debaryomyces hansenii (KIRBASLAR & al., 2009).
Moreover, it is also active in vitro against several common species of dermatophytes including Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton rubrum, Microsporum canis, Microsporum gypseum and Epidermophyton floccosum, suggesting its potential use for the topical treatment of dermatophytosis (SANGUINETTI & al., 2007).
So don’t wait any longer! Discover this little-known citrus fruit with multiple facets and an original taste.
