Bergamot Givco 104/5 – Bergamot Without Furocoumarins
Bergamot Givco 104/5 by Givaudan – The Complete Reference
Bergamot stands at the beginning of modern perfumery – and it is at the same time the raw material where formulators most often run into a regulatory limit. This reference explains why that is, what Givaudan does about it with base 104/5, and how to work with the material.
Contents
- What is Bergamot Givco 104/5?
- The furocoumarin question
- What does it smell like?
- Role in the formula
- Bergamot as a raw material
- 1709 – how bergamot founded perfumery
- Quick reference: data and safety
- Further questions
1. What is Bergamot Givco 104/5?
Givco is Givaudan's line of bases: not single molecules, but finished compositions that bundle the character of a natural material into one ready-to-use material. The same line includes Black Agar Givco 215/2 (oud), Green Tea Givco 228 and Orris Givco 204/2.
104 is the catalogue number of the bergamot base. The “/5” denotes the reformulation: Givaudan reworked the base, and 104/5 replaces the older version 104, which used to be listed simply as “Bergamot (G)”.
Formally the material is a perfume compound – a mixture, not a single substance. It therefore has no CAS number of its own, but it does have a UFI identifier and a Givaudan sales number.
2. The furocoumarin question
This is the actual reason the base exists.
What bergapten does
The peel of the bergamot contains furocoumarins, above all bergapten (5-methoxypsoralen). These molecules are photoactive: if they reach the skin and UV light then falls on it, they trigger a photochemical reaction. The result is not an allergy but a burn – with blistering and a hyperpigmentation that can persist for months.
Two numbers make the scale clear:
- Skin reactions begin at roughly 10 ppm bergapten
- Depending on origin, cold-pressed bergamot oil contains it in the order of several thousand ppm – that is, several hundred times above the reaction threshold
The regulation
The IFRA restricted bergamot oil as early as 1974. That was one of the very first restrictions the industry imposed on itself – long before sensitisation and ecotoxicity became topics. Narrow limits on bergapten content have applied ever since to leave-on products exposed to sunlight.
Two routes, two different materials
FCF bergamot oil (furocoumarin-free): the furocoumarins are removed from the natural oil by vacuum distillation. The result remains a natural product. The intervention does not pass without trace, though – fine top-note nuances disappear along with the furocoumarins and the oil becomes smoother.
The composed base such as Givco 104/5: the bergamot character is built up from constituents among which there are no furocoumarins. The base contains no furocoumarins, and its classification shows no phototoxicity.
Both are legitimate solutions to the same problem. The base has two additional properties the oil cannot offer: it is identical from batch to batch, and it holds up in alkaline media in which natural citrus oils break down.
For the binding assessment of your own formula, the manufacturer's IFRA certificate applies in every case.
3. What does it smell like?
The official description reads simply citrus-like. That is both correct and uninformative – the interest lies in the structure behind it.
Linalyl acetate carries the sweetish, slightly floral base facet. It is the difference between bergamot and lemon: lemon is sharp and straight, bergamot is round and has a floral depth.
Orange terpenes supply the sparkling peel freshness of the first minutes – the impression of freshly broken citrus rind.
Linalool forms the bridge: it lasts longer than the terpenes and connects the top note softly to the heart of the composition instead of letting it break off.
In practice this means the base does not merely smell of citrus, it carries. That is exactly where most home-built citrus top notes fail – they are gone after ten minutes.
4. Role in the formula
Composition
| Linalyl acetate | 30–50% |
| Terpenes and terpenoids from orange oil | 25–30% |
| Linalool | 10–20% |
| Orange oil (sweet) | 2.5–5% |
| Citral, limonene, geranyl acetate, neryl acetate | smaller proportions |
In natural bergamot oil, linalyl acetate and linalool together make up about half the profile. Givaudan therefore did not rebuild a list of substances but a working ratio.
Dosage
A base is not dosed in traces. For the bergamot base Givaudan states up to 25% in the concentrate – an entirely different scale from single molecules such as Javanol™, which stops at 2%.
Classic combinations
- Fougère: with lavender and coumarin – the structure that has shaped masculine perfumery since Fougère Royale (1882)
- Chypre: with oakmoss substitutes and patchouli – here bergamot is not an ingredient but a precondition
- Eau de Cologne: with neroli, lemon and rosemary
- Modern floral: with Hedione® for an airy, transparent opening
5. Bergamot as a raw material
Citrus bergamia is presumed to be a hybrid of bitter orange and lemon or citron – the exact ancestry is disputed to this day.
Around 90% of world production of bergamot oil comes from Calabria, from a narrow coastal strip near Reggio di Calabria at the tip of the Italian boot. Some 1,300 smallholders farm the trees there.
A few numbers for scale: a bergamot tree bears fruit only after four to five years and then yields around 100 kilograms a year. One litre of essential oil takes the annual harvest of two mature trees.
Givaudan has audited this supply chain since 2017; two of the three main suppliers are members of the Union for Ethical BioTrade. The company therefore works on both in parallel – on the natural chain and on the composed base. They are two tools for two different jobs, not substitutes for one another.
Where the name comes from
Two explanations coexist. One derives the name from the northern Italian city of Bergamo, where the oil is said to have been traded – which is surprising insofar as the fruit grows a thousand kilometres further south. The other traces it to the Turkish beg armudi, “prince's pear”, after the shape of the fruit.
6. 1709 – how bergamot founded perfumery
In 1709 the Italian Johann Maria Farina founded the oldest surviving perfume factory in the world, in Cologne. His idea: he dissolved bergamot and other citrus oils in pure alcohol – until then fragrance materials had been carried in fats and oils.
He named the result after his new home city: Eau de Cologne. The name outlived its inventor and became the label for an entire fragrance category.
Farina wrote to his brother that the scent reminded him of “an Italian spring morning after the rain, mountain narcissi and orange blossom”.
Bergamot therefore does not sit somewhere in the history of perfumery – it stands at its beginning. Alcoholic perfumery as we know it began with a citrus fruit from Calabria.
7. Quick reference: data and safety
| Manufacturer | Givaudan Suisse SA |
| Product type | Perfume compound (mixture) |
| Sales no. | 21009787 |
| UFI | UVYN-J2DN-J00E-NC29 |
| Appearance | Liquid, yellow to dark yellow |
| Odour | Citrus-like |
| Density (20 °C) | 875.42 kg/m³ |
| Vapour pressure (20 °C) | 0.5011 hPa |
| Flash point | 62 °C (Grabner miniflash, closed cup) |
| Water solubility | Practically insoluble |
| Furocoumarins | not present |
| Use level | up to 25% in the concentrate |
Safety: classified as a hazardous mixture, signal word “Danger”, pictograms GHS07, GHS08 and GHS09. Skin irritation Category 2, serious eye irritation Category 2, skin sensitisation Category 1, aspiration hazard Category 1, chronic aquatic hazard Category 2.
Aspiration hazard Category 1 is the most serious point: if swallowed, the material can enter the lungs. Do not pipette by mouth, do not decant into food containers, do not induce vomiting if swallowed, and seek medical help immediately.
Transport: UN 3082, class 9, packing group III, marine pollutant.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bergamot Givco 104/5 phototoxic?
No. The phototoxicity of bergamot comes from furocoumarins, above all bergapten. These are not present in the base, and the material's classification shows no phototoxicity. For the binding assessment of your own formula, the manufacturer's IFRA certificate applies.
What is the difference from FCF bergamot oil?
FCF oil is natural bergamot oil from which the furocoumarins have been removed by vacuum distillation – a natural product with batch variation. Givco 104/5 is a composed base in which furocoumarins were never present – constant from batch to batch and stable in alkaline media.
At what level is it used?
Considerably higher than single molecules. Givaudan states up to 25% in the concentrate. As a top note in a cologne structure, double-digit percentages are normal.
Why does the material have no CAS number?
Because a CAS number designates a single substance. Bergamot Givco 104/5 is a mixture of several fragrance materials and is therefore identified by the UFI code and the manufacturer's sales number. The individual constituents each have their own CAS numbers.
What does “Givco” mean?
Givaudan's line of bases. Finished compositions that deliver a fragrance character as a ready-to-use building block – unlike single molecules, which contribute only one facet.
Why does bergamot smell different from lemon?
Because of the linalyl acetate. Lemon is dominated by limonene and citral and therefore comes across sharp and straight. Bergamot has, in linalyl acetate, a sweetish-floral component that makes the citrus character round and carried.
Where does bergamot come from?
Around 90% of world production of the essential oil comes from Calabria, from the area around Reggio di Calabria at the southern tip of Italy.