Citrus × myrtifolia Raf. (syn. Citrus aurantium var. myrtifolia)
Appearance
Yellow to golden mobile liquid
Odor Strength
Medium
Producing Countries
Italy
Pyramid
Top
Peel-zest bitterness over a dark citrus body — more austere than bergamot, less sweet than sweet orange, with a marmalade-rind dryness and faint herbal edge. The smell of an Italian aperitivo before ice dilutes it.
Sharp, bitter zest on first contact — drier than bergamot, more angular than sweet orange, with a burnt-peel bitterness that recalls quinine tonic. A faint floral-linalool lift emerges as the top dissipates, closer to petitgrain than to neroli. The tail is thin, woody-dry, with a grapefruit-rind trace (nootkatone) and a faint herbal-green shadow. Less sweet than any common citrus oil; more austere, more adult.
Evolution over time
Immediately
Immediately
Sharp bitter-zest attack, burnt marmalade rind, angular citrus brighter and drier than bergamot. Limonene-dominant flash.
After a few hours
After a few hours
Linalool floral lift fades quickly. Thin woody-dry tail with faint grapefruit-rind (nootkatone). Herbal-green shadow lingers on fabric.
After a few days
After a few days
Virtually absent on skin within 2-3 hours due to monoterpene volatility. On paper or fabric, a faint bitter-woody ghost remains, recalling dried citrus peel left on a windowsill.
Terroir & Expressions
Indicative 2025 wholesale prices.
The Full Story
Chinotto oil comes from the cold-pressed peel of Citrus myrtifolia (syn. C. aurantium var. myrtifolia), a small, thorny citrus tree distinct from common bitter orange despite frequent conflation. The fruit originated in China and arrived on the Ligurian coast in the sixteenth century, where it took root between Varazze and Finale Ligure. Its oil is dominated by limonene (48–80% depending on maturity), with significant contributions from linalool (up to 32% in ripe fruit), linalyl acetate (up to 47% in unripe fruit), myrcene, β-pinene, and α-pinene. Traces of nootkatone (0.7%) give a subtle grapefruit-woody undertone absent from most citrus oils.
Olfactory Character
The opening is sharply zesty and bitter — drier than bergamot, darker than lemon, with a burnt-marmalade edge that recalls Seville orange but with more herbal tension. As linalyl acetate volatilizes, a soft, almost petitgrain-like floral quality emerges mid-development. The tail end is thin and woody-dry, with the nootkatone fraction giving a faint grapefruit-rind persistence unusual for a citrus top note. Maturation stage at harvest radically shifts the profile: unripe fruit oil is dominated by linalyl acetate (47.5%) and smells more floral-neroli; ripe fruit oil peaks in linalool (32.4%) and reads sweeter, rounder, more classically citrus.
Terroir and Production
The Chinotto di Savona, grown on a narrow strip of Ligurian coast, was designated a Slow Food Presidium in 2004. At that point, only a few dozen trees remained in the province; today, around 3,500 have been replanted. Calabrian and Sicilian chinotto differ in profile — volcanic soils around Etna tend to produce higher-mineral, more bitter oils. The 1990 Chialva & Doglia GC-MS analysis (Journal of Essential Oil Research) identified 51 compounds in steam-distilled dried peel oil.
Use in Perfumery
Chinotto functions as a bitter-citrus top note, lending formulas an aperitivo dryness that plain bergamot or lemon cannot deliver. It bridges hesperidic openings toward aromatic-herbal hearts (rosemary, basil) and pairs naturally with bitter-aromatic bases like vetiver and incense. As a cold-pressed citrus oil, it likely contains furocoumarins and should be treated as phototoxic for leave-on applications under IFRA Standard 089.
This note in Première Peau. Gravitas Capitale · Nuit Elastique · Rose Monotone. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.
When Slow Food designated the Chinotto di Savona as a Presidium in 2004, only a few dozen trees survived in the entire province of Savona. By 2020, replanting efforts had brought the count to approximately 3,500 trees. The first Ligurian workshop for candying chinotto fruit was founded in Savona in 1877 by the firm Silvestre-Allemand, which relocated from Apt in Provence where it had operated since 1780.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: Cold expression (sfumatura) of the fruit peel, the traditional method in Calabria and Sicily. Steam distillation of dried peel is also documented (Chialva & Doglia, 1990). Cold pressing preserves furocoumarin content; steam distillation eliminates it but alters the olfactory profile — distilled oil reads flatter, with less bitter-peel character. CO₂ supercritical extraction is used for food-grade chinotto extracts but is uncommon in perfumery supply chains. Yield data for chinotto specifically is not well-documented in literature; comparable Citrus aurantium (bitter orange) peel oil yields range from 0.3–0.5% by cold pressing.
Citrus × myrtifolia Raf. (syn. Citrus aurantium var. myrtifolia)
IFRA Status
Restricted — cold-pressed chinotto oil likely contains furocoumarins (as with most expressed citrus peel oils). IFRA Standard 089 applies: total bergapten in leave-on consumer products must not exceed 0.0015% (15 ppm) for sun-exposed skin. Steam-distilled oil is non-phototoxic.
Synonyms
MYRTLE-LEAF ORANGE · CHINOIS
Physical Properties
Odor Strength
Medium
Appearance
Yellow to golden mobile liquid
Flash Point
~120 °F TCC (~49 °C)
Specific Gravity
0.840 to 0.860 @ 25 °C (est)
In Perfumery
Chinotto oil operates as a bitter-citrus top note — not a heart note, despite its slightly longer tenacity compared to lemon or sweet orange. Its function is to provide a dry, adult, aperitivo-style opening that avoids the candied sweetness of mandarin or the cologne-clean brightness of bergamot. Compositionally, it works in eau de cologne and fougère structures where a bitter hesperidic attack is needed before aromatic herbs take over. It can replace or supplement bigarade (bitter orange) in chypre openings, offering a more specific terroir character. The nootkatone trace (0.7%) gives it unusual compatibility with grapefruit-based accords and woody-amber bases. Chinotto sits well above vetiver, patchouli, or incense in the pyramid, acting as a bridge between bright citrus and darker aromatic-woody hearts. It can anchor an Italian-herbal accord alongside basil, rosemary, and clary sage.
