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Also known as Bergamot Peel
A bright citrus direction often perceived as fresher, greener and more aromatic than sweet orange.
Its type, Source, means the smell is named after “a physical origin that can contribute a smell”; it is not an evidence source, such as a study or a book. The origin page for Bergamot (the plant, not this smell entry) lists every smell recorded as coming from it.
Bergamot smells bright and citrusy, but greener, more aromatic and less sweet than orange. EDITORIAL
Named in the VERIFIED claims about this smell: not a list of what it is made of, and not its cause.
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Links SmellBook records for this entry: what it comes from, where you meet it, molecules, related smells and comparisons. EDITORIAL links are chosen by SmellBook editors and VERIFIED links come from VERIFIED claims. Nothing here is a ranking, and a molecule is not presented as the cause of the smell.
QUESTIONS ABOUT BERGAMOT
Bergamot smells bright and citrusy, but greener, more aromatic and less sweet than orange. A light floral and slightly peppery tone sits under the zest, giving it a refined, airy quality. In a perfume it flashes up first and then fades within a short time into the notes beneath. It is easily confused with lemon or lime, though it is softer and more perfumed than either.
People meet it most often in flavoured black tea and in the opening of many fragrances and colognes. It also appears in some sweets and baked goods, and occasionally as fresh fruit peel in kitchens.
Typical settings: citrus peel, tea association, fragrance opening.
SmellBook links it to one place page: see it in Connections.
2 VERIFIED scientific claims from 2 published sources are recorded for this entry: Volatile compounds of citrus rind oils and Bergamot-like odour components of bergamot essential oil. Each claim says only what its source supports, in the scope shown with it.
3 molecules are named in one of these claims, Bergamot-like odour components of bergamot essential oil; see the evidence for the role the claim gives them. Each molecule this claim names has only the role the claim states; one molecule is not the whole smell.
Bergamot sits naturally between botanical source, food association and fragrance vocabulary.
SmellBook records 2 written comparisons with other smells: see them in Connections.
Words that are easy to mix up: How do green and herbal differ? and Is citrus a kind of fresh?
No historical source or heritage record is linked to this entry yet.
Answers marked EDITORIAL are written by SmellBook editors to describe the experience and add no scientific fact. Answers marked VERIFIED point to claims on published sources, checked against each source's own summary where one was available (each claim's page says how); what each claim supports is in its own text and scope.
Scientific evidence · 2 claims
How it is described or perceived
Bergamot-like odour components of bergamot essential oil
In bergamot (Citrus bergamia) essential oil produced in Reggio Calabria, Italy, gas chromatography–olfactometry with aroma extraction dilution analysis found (Z)-limonene oxide, decanal, linalyl acetate and geraniol to be bergamot-like odour components, and these four together with eight other components gave an aroma model of bergamot odour, scored 7.1 for similarity on a nine-point sensory test.
One essential oil produced in Reggio Calabria; the abstract does not say whether it is peel oil or how it was obtained. The aroma model was judged with a nine-point similarity score and is not a full recombination of the oil. Not every bergamot oil, and not perfumes containing bergamot.
Also covers: chemistry reported (the claim names compounds or kinds of compounds).
How this was found: Odour analysis with human assessors. People smelled the separated compounds or the material itself (for example gas chromatography–olfactometry, dilution analysis, recombination or a sensory panel). Source: primary study; sensory or perception work. Studied: bergamot essential oil from Reggio Calabria, by gas chromatography–olfactometry and an aroma model.
Masayoshi Sawamura et al.
DOI 10.1002/ffj.1604Chemistry reported
Volatile compounds of citrus rind oils
A review of the volatile composition of the rind essential oil of the ten most studied citrus species, including sweet orange, lemon and bergamot, reports that most of the 49 volatile compounds found in all ten species are terpenoids, and that their volatile composition arranges the species in three clusters.
Composition of rind oils and extracts, not odour: the review does not describe how the peels smell, and it does not imply that orange, lemon and bergamot peel smell alike.
How this was found: Chemical composition. Compounds were identified or measured, without any assessment of their odour. Source: review of earlier studies; chemistry work. Studied: rind essential oils and extracts of ten citrus species, in a review.
M. Carmen González-Mas et al.
DOI 10.3389/fpls.2019.00012Each molecule is named by the claim shown after it. Each molecule named here has only the role the claim states; one molecule is not the whole smell. About molecules in SmellBook
Links chosen by SmellBook editors, not a ranking.
Associations can vary strongly by person, place and culture.
PATHS FROM HERE
Each step is a relationship SmellBook editors recorded in the knowledge graph, named as it is published there. Paths are not ranked or personalised, and they do not mean the smells smell alike.
Each step is a molecule that a VERIFIED claim names for both smells, in whatever role the claims state. Sharing a molecule does not mean two smells smell alike.
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WHERE THIS SMELL APPEARS
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IN FRAGRANCE & SPACES
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FOR RESEARCHERS AND EDITORS
Identity, revision history, corrections and how to cite Bergamot.
CULTURAL: This entry's associations depend on context, language, memory or culture; its description and smell words are editorial. It says nothing about research or historical evidence; evidence for this entry is shown separately: VERIFIED.
How this entry is identified and named, for citing it or matching it with other records.
SmellBook SB-0012 — Bergamotsmellbook:smell:bergamothttps://smellbook.com/smells/bergamotSmellBook. (2026). Bergamot (revision 4, 2026-10-25). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:bergamot. https://smellbook.com/smells/bergamot@misc{smellbook_bergamot_r4,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Bergamot},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 4, 2026-10-25, smellbook:smell:bergamot},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/bergamot}
}TY - ENCYC ID - smellbook-bergamot-r4 TI - Bergamot AU - SmellBook T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas PY - 2026 DA - 2026/10/25 ET - revision 4 UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/bergamot N1 - SB-0012; smellbook:smell:bergamot; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/bergamot ER -
The citation names revision 4 of 2026-10-25, so a reader can tell exactly which version was cited. Citing records what was read; it does not grant a licence.
Bergamot sits naturally between botanical source, food association and fragrance vocabulary.
Other entries whose editors linked to Bergamot:
Added VERIFIED evidence through source intake: a study in which people smelled the separated compounds of bergamot essential oil and named its bergamot-like odour components.
Created 2026-09-22 · Updated 2026-10-25Dataset history In the SmellBook dataset since the first of three dataset releases of 2026-09-30.
No correction notices published for this entry. Corrections policyEVIDENCE MATTERS
SmellBook separates cultural association, community perception, verified evidence, prediction and experimental relationships rather than presenting them as the same thing. Read the evidence guide ↗ See the evidence coverage report ↗