Bergamot orange

For the herb, see Monarda.

Bergamot orange
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Citrus
Species:
C. bergamia
Binomial name
Citrus bergamia
Synonyms[2]
  • Citrus aurantium subsp. bergamia (Risso & Poit.) Wight & Arn. ex Engl.
  • Citrus aurantium var. bergamia Loisel

Citrus bergamia, the bergamot orange (pronounced /ˈbɜːrɡəmɒt/), is a fragrant citrus fruit the size of an orange, with a yellow or green colour similar to a lime, depending on ripeness.

Genetic research into the ancestral origins of extant citrus cultivars found bergamot orange to be a probable hybrid of lemon (itself a hybrid between bitter orange and citron[3][4]) and bitter orange.[5] Extracts have been used as an aromatic ingredient in food, tea, snus, perfumes, and cosmetics.[6][7] Use on the skin can increase photosensitivity, resulting in greater damage from sun exposure.[6]

  1. ^ The International Plant Names Index, retrieved 2 June 2015
  2. ^ Porcher, Michel H.; et al. (1995), Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (M.M.P.N.D): Sorting Citrus Names, The University of Melbourne
  3. ^ Gulsen, O.; M. L. Roose (2001). "Lemons: Diversity and Relationships with Selected Citrus Genotypes as Measured with Nuclear Genome Markers". Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science. 126 (3): 309–317. doi:10.21273/JASHS.126.3.309.
  4. ^ Genetic origin of cultivated citrus determined: Researchers find evidence of origins of orange, lime, lemon, grapefruit, other citrus species" Archived September 21, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Science Daily, January 26, 2011 (Retrieved February 10, 2017).
  5. ^ Curk, Franck; Ollitrault, Frédérique; Garcia-Lor, Andres; Luro, François; Navarro, Luis; Ollitrault, Patrick (2016). "Phylogenetic origin of limes and lemons revealed by cytoplasmic and nuclear markers". Annals of Botany. 117 (4): 565–583. doi:10.1093/aob/mcw005. PMC 4817432. PMID 26944784.
  6. ^ a b "Bergamot oil". Drugs.com. 21 September 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  7. ^ Davidson, Alan (2006). Jaine, Tom (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Food (Second ed.). OUP Oxford. p. 75. ISBN 0-19-280681-5. The bergamot orange is not edible and is grown only for its fragrant oil, although its peel is sometimes candied.