Presented at the International Congress on Membranes and Membrane Processes (ICOM), Seoul, Korea, 21–26 August 2005. 0011-9164/06/$– See front matter © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved Desalination 193 (2006) 160–165 Bergamot essential oil extraction by pervaporation A. Figoli a* , L. Donato a , R. Carnevale a , R. Tundis b , G.A. Statti b , F. Menichini b , E. Drioli a a Institute of Membrane Technology, Via P. Bucci 17/c, 87036 Rende (Cs), Italy Tel. +39 (0984) 492027; Fax: +39 (0984) 402103; email: a.figoli@itm.cnr.it b Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende (CS), Italy Received 24 March 2005; accepted 27 June 2005 Abstract Bergamot peel oil is the most valuable essential oil due to its unique fragrance and freshness. The essence finds application in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical and food industries. However, strong limitations have been imposed on its use since bergamot oil contains several coumarins and psoralens which may be photoactive. Qualitative and quantitative analyses with GC–MS were carried out to evaluate the aroma flavour bouquet of the bergamot essential oil obtained by pervaporation (PV). In all PV experiments, made at different ethanol feed concentration and temperature, the bergapten was not detected in the permeate while the aroma components, present in the feed, permeate through the commercial Pervap 1070 membrane. Bergapten is a photoactive component of bergamot essential oil which, in combination with UV radiation, promotes melanogenesis and causes thickening of the stratum corneum. Therefore, PV is a valid alternative for the high quality of essential oil produced without bergapten to the traditional techniques employed in which the bergapten can be removed after an extra-chemical treatment. Keywords: Bergamot; Pervaporation; Essential oil; Aroma recovery; Hydrophobic membrane; Extraction technique 1. Introduction The extraction of aroma compounds from natural matrixes by pervaporation (PV) represents a valid alternative to techniques commonly used such as steam distillation and liquid solvent *Corresponding author. extraction. Due to its high selectivity, PV allows the recovery at low temperature the aroma com- pounds preserving the molecule integrity, its high selectivity and respecting the environment (no solvent use, low energy consumption) [1–3]. Citrus peel oils are widely used in the perfume and cosmetic industries. Among them, bergamot