Caratterizzazione del bergamotto e potenziali applicazioni in campo alimentare

Bergamot represents, in the Calabria food farming scenery, a particular valuable product. The exclusive composition of its polyphenolic fraction (about 100 times more than the other Citrus species existing in nature) suggests applications in nutraceutical field. The dried juice extract, in view of a bergamot relaunch in the international market, is especially suitable to be mixed with other foods showing minimal impact on their organolectic properties. The characterization of this product was carried out with HPLC-DAD method, with the detection and the quantification of some flavonoids like neohesperidin, naringin and neoeriocitrin which represent an antioxidant pattern almost unique in nature and of two furocoumarins, bergaptene and bergamottin, potentially toxic if over certain limits.