Bigarade

Today we are talking about the fruits of the Bigaradier!

The emblematic citrus fruit of the Pays de Grasse, known as “bitter orange”, allows the production of dozens of products and by-products, from different parts of the tree at different times of the year. If the orange blossom, the leaves and the young branches (Petitgrain) are no longer to be presented, the fruit remains more unknown. However, bigarade allows many uses, whether in the aromatic, agri-food, liquoristerie, aromatherapy or perfumery sectors.

Our local sector is entirely conducted in organic farming, as part of a program to revive the Bigaradier sector started in 2018. In 2020, we planted 700 Bigaradiers in Vallauris Golfe-Juan and Bar-sur-Loup in order to double the current production of orange blossoms and bigarades by 2025. Our R&D teams are working on the development of a range of extracts and aromatic products around the Bigarade Country:

The cold expression of green bigarades from which we obtain an essential oil with multiple uses and virtues. This essential oil gains in gluttony as it loses in liveliness when extracted from ripe fruits, called yellow bigarades.

The traditional gesture of coulanes (necklaces, in Provençal), that is to say zest, which will be dried in order to benefit from all the aroma of the fruit with an elegant and controlled bitterness, throughout the year.

The maceration and distillation of fresh fruit in order to enhance all the raw material in a circular economy scheme, a bigarade usually intended for the production of jams, confectionery, and spirits.