Bergamot essential oil from the water. The rinds of 100 bergamot oranges yield about of bergamot oil. Bergamot essential oil has been used in cosmetics, aromatherapy, and as a flavoring in food and beverages. Historically, bergamot essential oil was an important ingredient in Eau de Cologne, a perfume originally concocted by Johann Maria Farina at the beginning of the 18th century. The first record of bergamot oil used as a fragrance in perfume is from 1714, found in the Farina Archive in Cologne. The volatile oils of the bergamot orange are described as flavoring agents in the USP Food Chemicals Codex and are
Bergamot essential oil generally recognized as safe for human consumption by the Food and Drug Administration. For example, Earl Grey tea is a type of black tea that contains bergamot essential oil as a flavoring. A clear liquid (sometimes there is a deposit consisting of waxes) in color from green to greenish yellow, bergamot essential oil consists of a volatile fraction (average 95%) and a non-volatile fraction (5% or residual). Chemically, it is a complex mixture of many classes of organic substances, particularly in the volatile fraction, including terpenes, esters, alcohols and aldehydes, and for the non-volatile fraction, oxygenated heterocyclic compounds as coumarins