Abstract
Reggio Calabria province (South Italy) is known for being almost the only area of cultivation of the bergamot fruit, grown principally for its essential oil, but today much studied for the health benefits of its juice. The biometrics and physico-chemical properties of the three (Citrus bergamia Risso) existing genotypes namely Castagnaro, Fantastico and Femminello were studied during fruit ripening from October to March. Castagnaro cultivar had the biggest and heaviest fruit during this harvest period. °Brix (7.9–10.0), pH (2.2–2.8) and formol number (1.47–2.37 mL NaOH 0.1 N/100 mL) were shown to be influenced by both the genotype and harvest date. Titratable acidity (34.98–59.50 g/L) and vitamin C (ascorbic acid) (341–867 g/L) decreased during fruit ripening. The evolution of flavonoids such as neoeriocitrin, naringin, neohesperidin, brutieridin and melitidin was studied both in bergamot juice and in the bergamot cloudy juice which is the aqueous extract of bergamot during fruit processing. Bergamot cloudy juice contained a higher quantity of flavonoids compared to the juice. This study gives important information regarding the cultivar and the harvest date for producers who want to obtain the highest juice quantity or the highest juice quality from the bergamot fruit.
Highlights
Bergamot (Citrus bergamia, Risso) is an evergreen tree almost exclusively grown on the Ionian and Tyrrhenian Coast of Reggio Calabria Province (South Italy), in a strip of land 1–12 km wide.Given its economic benefits, bergamot is very important to the region where it is cultivated [1].Three cultivars are known: Castagnaro, Fantastico and Femminello
In 2017, 1500 hectares of bergamot trees were cultivated in Reggio Calabria, producing 18,750 tons of fruits [2]
More recently there has been an increasing interest in the use of its juice as a beverage and in a blend with other fruit juices. This interest is related to the demand for minimally processed foods and functional foods containing antioxidants and biomolecules whose beneficial effects on human health have been widely studied regarding diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, insulin resistance and neuro-disease [7]
Summary
Bergamot (Citrus bergamia, Risso) is an evergreen tree almost exclusively grown on the Ionian and Tyrrhenian Coast of Reggio Calabria Province (South Italy), in a strip of land 1–12 km wide.Given its economic benefits, bergamot is very important to the region where it is cultivated [1].Three cultivars (cv) (genotypes) are known: Castagnaro, Fantastico and Femminello. The fruit was commonly cultivated for its essential oil extracted from the peel, which is used in the cosmetic, perfumery [4] and food industries [5]. More recently there has been an increasing interest in the use of its juice as a beverage and in a blend with other fruit juices. This interest is related to the demand for minimally processed foods and functional foods containing antioxidants and biomolecules whose beneficial effects on human health have been widely studied regarding diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, insulin resistance and neuro-disease [7]. The following definition could be applied: “Natural or processed foods that contain known
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