Цитрусові

Citruses are the perfume's opening syllable: short-lived, volatile, bright, often the first thing a fragrance says before the heart arrives. They are cold-pressed peel oils from the Citrus genus and its allied genera (now consolidated under Citrus following 2010s phylogenetic reclassification), members of the Rutaceae family [E]. Bergamot, lemon, sweet and bitter orange, lime, mandarin, grapefruit, yuzu, citron, kumquat, finger lime: each carries a slightly different terpene ratio over the same underlying chemistry.

Explore all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.

Chemistry

Every cold-pressed citrus oil is built on d-limonene (CAS 5989-27-5, C₁₀H₁₆), often at 60 to 95% of the oil [A]. On top of that backbone, each species adds a signature: citral, the mixed isomers geranial and neral (CAS 5392-40-5) [B], gives lemon and lemongrass their characteristic profile. Linalool and linalyl acetate carry bergamot into its floral register. γ-Terpinene runs through lemon and lime. Methyl anthranilate threads grape and orange-blossom into mandarin. The composite is hesperidic: the perfumer's term for this terpene-and-citral envelope.

Extraction

Cold pressing (mechanical expression) is the dominant method. The peel oil glands are broken open and the emulsion is centrifuged. Yield is generous by floral standards: 0.3 to 1% of peel weight, sometimes higher in lemon. Distilled versions exist, principally for bergamot, where the distillation step removes phototoxic furocoumarins to produce a bergapten-free (FCF) oil. CO₂ extraction is increasingly used for premium grades because it captures more of the living-peel character without the heat of steam distillation.

Phototoxicity and IFRA

Most expressed citrus peel oils contain furocoumarins, bergapten (5-methoxypsoralen, CAS 484-20-8) and psoralen (CAS 66-97-7) most prominent [C]. These compounds intercalate with skin DNA and amplify UV damage; the practical result is severe phototoxic burns on UV exposure. IFRA's 51st Amendment caps the bergapten level at approximately 0.4% in leave-on products [D]. Distilled and FCF versions are unrestricted, which is why most modern colognes use FCF bergamot.

In a fragrance

Citrus oils are the classic top notes: they lift florals, sharpen aromatics, anchor colognes and hesperidic structures, and bridge into aldehydic openings. They rarely persist past the first half-hour: what remains is what the perfumer placed beneath.

Sources & Notes

[A] PubChem CID 439250, d-limonene, CAS 5989-27-5, formula C₁₀H₁₆. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/439250.

[B] PubChem CID 638011, citral (mixed geranial + neral), CAS 5392-40-5, formula C₁₀H₁₆O. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/638011.

[C] PubChem CID 2355 (bergapten / 5-methoxypsoralen, CAS 484-20-8) and CID 6199 (psoralen, CAS 66-97-7). The principal furocoumarins responsible for citrus phototoxicity.

[D] IFRA Standards, 51st Amendment (2024). Furocoumarin restriction limits for leave-on products. ifrafragrance.org/safe-use/library.

[E] Kew, Plants of the World Online: Citrus genus consolidated to include the former Fortunella and Microcitrus on the basis of molecular phylogeny. powo.science.kew.org.