Processing methods used for extracting oils from citrus fruit differ from methods used to extract oils from flowers
Methods and equipment are divided into six production lines:
- Cold Extraction
Citrus products are processed from fresh fruit, which is picked from the fields surrounding our production area.
Fruit is processed immediately after being picked in order to preserve the physical, chemical and odour characteristics of the essence.
We have three cold extraction production lines: two which use peeling machines (Pelatrice) and another which uses a pressing machine (torchio / sfumatrice).
Bergamot Oil is extracted by using the peeling machine (Pelatrice): a special piece of equipment which peels the Bergamot fruit to extract the essence. The peeling machine has a fruit-processing capacity of 4 000 kg/hour.
Citroflor owns 35% Bergamot Oil market share.
- Vacuum Extraction
This production method uses a distiller to extract different oil fractions.
Our vacuum extraction line allows us to produce colourless, furocoumarin-free and terpeneless products from Bergamot, Lemon and Mandarin Oils.
- Steam Distillation
This production method uses a distiller to extract essential oils from flowers and leaves.
We use this particular type of extraction to produce our neroli and petitgrain oils.
- Volatile Solvant Extraction and Vacuum Distillation
This method uses a distiller for the production of broom and jasmine flower concretes.
- Absolute extraction
Concretes are obtained by the aforementioned production process, and then re-processed to extract jasmine and broom Absolutes.
- Molecular Distillation
Citroflor pays close attention to new market trends and operates in full compliance with EU regulations regarding consumer health and safety.
Our focus on innovation has led us to invest in a piece of cutting edge technology: the Molecular Distillation Unit.
The MDU processes raw materials at low operating temperatures under strong vacuum conditions, permitting the finished product to maintain its original characteristics with the advantage of producing a colourless, furocoumarine-free oil.