Evaluation of flavonoids and furocoumarins in bergamot derivatives by HPLC-DAD

The high concentration of bergamot polyphenolic fraction is generating growing interest in all its derivatives due to the potential beneficial effects on human health, suggesting new application in the functional foods field. Once widely used in perfumery for the exclusive fragrance of its essential oil, the bergamot has reported, in the last decades, a drop in demand due to the synthetic essence placing on the market. In order to re-launch this citrus on the international market, the dry juice extract seems to be particularly suitable to be mixed with other foods with minimal impact on their organoleptic properties. The characterization of bergamot derivatives (juice, pastazzo and dry juice extract) was performed with HPLC-DAD method, with the detection and quantification of some flavonoids such as neohesperidin, naringin e neoeriocitrin, which represent an antioxidant pattern almost unique in nature, and of two furocoumarins, bergapten and bergamottin, potentially toxic if beyond certain limits. The method was validated in terms of detection limits (LODs), linearity, precision and accuracy.