Bergamot (Citrus bergamia) is a plant that produces the bergamot orange. From bergamot oranges bergamot is produced from the rind of the oranges and is used in food manufacture as a spice, such as in the case of Earl Grey tea. The bergamot tree grows naturally in Calabria in Southern Italy. The Essence from bergamot has been used as a pain relieving substance and as a fragrance. In the local economy where it is grown, bergamot plays an important role and it is processed to extract its essential oil. Like all plants bergamot contains a high number of phytochemicals and in particular is rich in polyphenols including flavonoids and their glycosides. The flavonoids in bergamot include neoeriocitrin, neohesperidin, naringin, rutin and poncirin.
Flavonoids are antioxidants and in this role they may benefit human health because they are bioavailable and accumulate in tissues including the blood, albeit in a metabolised form. One role that bergamot may play is in normalising levels of blood lipids, which can become elevated during development of the metabolic syndrome. The reason that bergamot polyphenols may be beneficial to metabolic syndrome is because metabolic syndrome is caused by inflammation in the liver that is a direct result of poor quality food. The damage from metabolic syndrome, which includes modifications of metabolic pathways, is caused by oxidative stress. The polyphenols in bergamot may prevent this oxidative stress and therefore may delay or prevent the development of the damaging metabolic changes.
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