Bergamot Fruit Juice/Peels

[Pinkerbell]

My apologies if I'm posting in the wrong Forum; I'm very new to this group and to making soap. (moved)
Much to my surprise, the tree growing in the yard of my new home is a Bergamot. Being quite ambitious, I'd love to use the juice and/or peels in a soap recipe. I've read several articles on calculating the citric acid in fruits and how to modify the amount of lye to compensate but, none cover bergamots. The peels release a very sticky liquid, the fruit juice is very bitter.

I made marmalade ... dumped it - too bitter. I tried pressing the raw peels in a food mill to release the oils ... ditched that idea - jammed the mill and nearly pulled a muscle cranking the mill. I've got a pressure cooker full of peels and water ... processed for 15 mins with the intention of straining the liquid, freezing it & harvesting the oil - the house smells lovely.

Has anyone tried using the juice and/or peels of bergamot fruit in their soap recipes? Any suggestions? Tips? Warnings? Recipes?

I've got plenty of fruit ... at least 50 lbs of it!

 

[bookworm42]

I have no advice unfortunately. I will say that that sounds like an amazing problem to have! My DH loves the scent of bergamot.
The only warning I have is that bergamot oil is phototoxic. Meaning if left on your skin and exposed to sun it can cause very quick sunburns or in extreme cases blisters.

 

[Pinkerbell]

I have no advice unfortunately. I will say that that sounds like an amazing problem to have! My DH loves the scent of bergamot.
The only warning I have is that bergamot oil is phototoxic. Meaning if left on your skin and exposed to sun it can cause very quick sunburns or in extreme cases blisters.

I'm quite ambitious and having an over abundance of bergamot fruit certainly seems to be an awesome problem. I hope to find some way to use it.

 

[bookworm42]

It should be fine in soap. Maybe try making a recipe with a high SF. You could replace the water with all of some of the bergamot juice/oil and see how it goes. Let us know what you do and how it goes.