Global warming threatens the world production of bergamot essential oil

Rationale: Global warming has the potential to impact on the olfactory features of bergamot essential oil, which is a key component of perfumes, ointments and juices. Objectives: The present study aimed at evaluating the hypothesis of a possible correlation between the chemical compositional characteristics of bergamot essential oil and climatic conditions over a twenty-year period (1999–2019) in Calabria. This Southern Italy region is responsible for ∼95 % of the worldwide production of bergamot oil. Materials and methods: Unlike the vast majority of studies on stress tolerance that focus on a single stress condition, this study faced the challenge to evaluate the complex effects of a combination of different abiotic stress causes. It was found that the impoverishment of the olfactory qualities of bergamot essential oil reported for specific years closely correlate with the combination of heat waves and droughts. Chemically, the effect was attributed to dramatic compositional changes and to the massive accumulation of monoterpenes, in particular D-Limonene, in the fruit peel. Conclusions: The data thus predict that, without a carefully planned increase of irrigation, the world bergamot industry may soon be jeopardized.