Siracusa Lemon

The Siracusa Lemon PGI (in Italian, Limone di Siracusa IGP) is the fruit of the cultivar "femminello siracusano" and its clones, corresponding to the botanical species Citrus x limon L. Burm. The femminello siracusano cultivar is the most common variety of lemon in Italy,[1] and produces three flowerings: the primofiore [2] (from October to March), the bianchetto [3] (from April to June) and the verdello [4] (from July to September).

Origins

The lemon plant originates in Burma, where it is found growing wild: from there it crossed the Middle East, Mesopotamia, and Palestine, to the Mediterranean, where it found the perfect conditions to thrive.[5] The natural habitat of the lemon lies in a strip from the 40° parallel in the North to the 40° parallel in the South: this strip includes California, Uruguay, Argentina, South Africa and the Mediterranean basin, in particular Italy, Spain, Greece and Turkey. In the Fifteenth and Sixteenth centuries, when there was an aristocratic monopoly on citrus growing, the use of lemons was confined to luxury foods.

It began to be cultivated more intensively in Siracusa from the early Seventeenth century, through the work of the Jesuit Fathers, who were expert growers. The lemon went on to become one of the principal sources of wealth in the region, reaching an output of around 11.500 tonnes in 1891. This success catalysed the birth in Sicily of various citrus related industries, which extracted juice concentrates, calcium citrate and the citric acid from the fruit. During this period the Siracusa lemon made a considerable fortune in foreign markets, especially in the United States and in England, as confirmed by records from the second half of the eighteenth century, held in Siracusa's Camera di Commercio e Arti (Chamber of Commerce and Arts).[6] Records regarding shipments at the Port of Siracusa in the early nineteenth century indicate that the principal destinations for lemons, oranges, both sweet and bitter, concentrated lemon juice and calcium citrate were the ports of Trieste, London, Fiume, Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Malta and Odessa.[7]

Despite the urbanisation and industrialisation that occurred at the beginning of the post-war period, lemon growing was anything but abandoned in the Siracusa area, and still today continues to be a very important economic mainstay: Siracusa is considered, in qualitative and quantitative terms, a hub for fresh lemons in both the Italian and European markets. On 3 February 2011 the name Limone di Siracusa (Siracusa Lemon) was registered as having Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) – Regulation (EC) n. 96/2011.

Fruit Characteristics

The Siracusa Lemon PGI is characterised by a high juice content and abundance of oil glands in the skin, as well as the high quality of its essential oils. The Siracusan variety of lemon is called a femminello because of the fertility of the plant, which flowers all year round: the primofiore (literally, "first flower") matures from October to March, has an elliptical shape, skin and flesh which varies from light green to lemon-yellow, and lemon-yellow juice; the bianchetto ripens from April to June, is ovoid-elliptical, with light yellow skin, yellow flesh and lemon-yellow juice; the verdello matures from July to September, is an spheroid elliptical shape, light green skin, and lemon-yellow flesh and juice.

The planting scheme must have a maximum density of 400-500 plants per hectare or 850 in the case of high-density dynamic planting. Growers can use conventional, integrated and organic methods.[8] All cultivation operations must be undertaken in a way which maintain perfect plant equilibrium and development in addition to providing normal aeration and sunlight exposure. Harvesting is done by hand-picking each fruit direct from the plant, using special secateurs to cut the fruit's stalk.

Production Capacity

The consumer base for the Siracusa Lemon PGI is mainly represented in the Italian market by large scale retail chains, in particular those from northern Italy; intra-EU exports are directed at the markets of Germany, Austria, France, United Kingdom, and Denmark; while the principal market outside the EU is Norway. Over the 2010/2011 season packing centres processed 13157.26 quintali of Siracusa Lemons, of which 6.284,20 quintali were certified as "Siracusa Lemon PGI".[9] The product is branded in the marketplace as "Limone di Siracusa IGP": it can be sold either in bulk, or packaged in appropriate containers made from cardboard, wood or plastic, or in nets and bags with a plastic band attached to the net. Retail categories are "Extra" and "Prima" only.

Product uses

The Siracusa Lemon is used in a wide range of fields, in addition to the commercial fresh fruit market; in particular, the food and drink sectors, medical and scientific applications, cosmetics and perfumery, which are supplied with juice and essential oil through processing companies.

In the medical field, the Siracusa Lemon (PGI) is the subject of a clinical study which seeks to demonstrate the effectiveness of lemon juice in preventing kidney stones in patients predisposed to recurrent problems.[10] Traditionally, potassium citrate has been the only medication that can reduce kidney stones, by preventing precipitation of the crystals of calcium oxalate which are responsible for the formation of stones. However, this medication can cause various side effects, which lead the patient to progressively cease taking it. The juice of three or four lemons can provide a daily amount of citrate comparable with that obtained through the medication, with the advantage of avoiding the latter's negative side effects. The study, currently taking place at the Nephrology Unit of the Ospedali Riuniti di Bergamo, is the result of collaboration between the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri" (Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research) and the Consorzio di Tutela del Limone di Siracusa (Consortium for the Protection of the Siracusa Lemon).

Curiosity and folklore

The festival of Santa Lucia patron saint of Siracusa

Every year, on December 13, the city of Siracusa celebrates the festival of its patron saint, Santa Lucia, with a long procession from the Piazza del Duomo in Ortigia to the Chiesa di Santa Lucia al Sepolcro. Eight days later, on the December 20, the procession retraces its route. On December 13, tradition dictates that the large candles which stand at the four corners of the statue of Santa Lucia are covered with bouquets of flowers, while on December 20, the silver statue is flanked by candles adorned with lemons and oranges. The gift of these particular fruits to the Siracusa's patron saint, apart from their aesthetic value, had a meaning: they represented the passage of the procession from the "countryside" back into the "city", when the area of the Piazza Santa Lucia alla Borgata was the northern border of the settlement but the term "city" was reserved for the island of Ortigia alone.

Properties

The lemon boasts a vast range of therapeutic uses, and the relationship between lemons and health is age-old: from the ancient Greeks to the present day, there are hundreds of examples of the lemon being used in medicinal applications, including significant historical breakthroughs like James Lind's discovery in 1747 of scurvy, a disease caused by Vitamin C deficiency - and treated with lemon and orange juice. The high concentration of Vitamin C in lemons makes them an important fruit for our health.[11]

PGI-certified lemons in the European Union

Italy has 12,464 hectares of lemon groves. The Siracusa Lemon comprises 34% of the entire national production, with a cultivated area of 5,300 hectares, 150 thousand tonnes of produce annually, and around 398,000 working days per year. The production zone stretches in a coastal strip across 10 municipalities in the Province of Siracusa, in Sicily: Augusta, Avola, Melilli, Noto and Siracusa, and also includes some inland areas, in the municipalities of Floridia, Solarino, Priolo Gargallo, Rosolini and Sortino. The land area devoted to growing Protected Geographical Indication lemons in the European Union:

PGI Variety Provenance Land area in hectares (Ha)
Limone di Siracusa Italy 5.300
Citricos Valencianos Spain 3.300
Limone Interdonato di Messina Italy 950
Limone di Sorrento Italy 400
Limone di Amalfi Italy 400
Limone Femminello del Gargano Italy 400
Citrinos do Algarve Portugal 320
Limone di Rocca Imperiale Italy 200

The European Union boasts eight (PGI) denomnations for lemons: six of these are from Italy, one from Spain, and one from Portugal. Other than the Siracusa Lemon", the Italian denominations are the "Limone di Sorrento", the "Limone Costa d'Amalfi", the "Interdonato di Messina", the "Femminello del Gargano", and the "Limone di Rocca Imperiale"; the Spanish denomination is the "Citricos Valencianos", while in Portugal the "Citrinos do Algarve" is protected.

The Consortium

The Consorzio di Tutela del Limone di Siracusa IGP (Consortium for the Protection of the Siracusa Lemon PGI) was founded on 13 July 2000. It does not undertake commercial activities and does sell lemons itself, though its members do. The Consortium's responsibilities include:

The current (2014) President of the Consortium is Fabio Moschella, who owns a lemon business in Siracusa.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The Siracusa region accounts for 42% of the national lemon-growing land area.
  2. ↑ divided into primofiore verde from October to December, and primofiore invernale from December to March.
  3. ↑ Also less commonly known as the maiolino.
  4. ↑ or summer lemon.
  5. ↑ Storia e proprietà del limone di Siracusa.
  6. ↑ Together with wheat, wine and carob, citrus fruit was one of the most important exports from Siracusa, until the outbreak of the First World War. Though less extensive, the export of olive oil and unshelled sweet almonds was also considerable.
  7. ↑ Official records of the Port of Siracusa, citrus harvests 1902-1903 and 1903-1904.
  8. ↑ Conventional methods mean the farming method which is in general use in the production area, observing the Sicilian Region's "Good Farming Practice Norms"; integrated production complies with the technical standards laid down by the Sicilian Region's Specification for adopting EU regulations in agri-environment matters; the organic method refers to Reg. (EC) 834/2007.
  9. ↑ From IZSS – Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia – Ente di Controllo.
  10. ↑ Le Virtù del Limone
  11. ↑ C'è un ruolo per il limone in medicina?, di Giuseppe Remuzzi

External links

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