Limone di Siracusa

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The Limone di Siracusa PGI is the fruit belonging to the Femminello siracusano cultivar and its clones, which can be assigned to the botanical species Citrus x limon L. Osbeck. The Femminello siracusano is the most representative cultivar for Italy and produces three flowers: the Primofiore (from October 1st), the Bianchetto (from April 15th) and the Verdello (from July 1st). The product specification of Limone di Siracusa PGI contains the absolute prohibition on coating the lemons with wax or applying fungicides before packaging, so the fruit certified as Limone di Siracusa PGI can be consumed in all its parts.

origin

The lemon plant comes from Burma , where it occurs wild: from here it has spread over the Middle East , Mesopotamia and Palestine to the Mediterranean, where optimal conditions for its development exist. The natural habitat of the lemon lies in the strip between the latitudes 40 degrees north and 40 degrees south: This belt includes California , Uruguay , Argentina , South Africa and the Mediterranean area , mainly Italy , Spain , Greece and Turkey . In the 16th and 17th centuries, during the baronial monopoly of the citrus fruit plantations, the use of lemons remained limited to the preparation of luxury dishes.

The lemon was intensively cultivated in the Syracuse area from the 17th century by Jesuits , experienced farmers. The lemon became one of the most important sources of livelihood at the time, reaching a production of around 11,600 tons in 1891. The success of this cultivation led to the foundation of various companies in the citrus fruit sector in Sicily , which extracted lemon juice concentrate, calcium citrate and citric acid from the juice. In the same years, the Syracuse lemon enjoyed considerable success on foreign markets, mainly in the United States and England , as is confirmed by the data from the Syracuse Camera di Commercio e Arti (Chamber of Commerce and Industry) in the second half of the 19th century . The data on the traffic in the port of Syracuse at the beginning of the 20th century give the ports of Trieste, London, Rijeka, Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Malta and Odessa as the main foreign destinations for lemons, bitter and sweet oranges, lemon juice concentrate and calcium citrate on.

Despite the urbanization and industrialization that took place after the Second World War, the lemon culture was not abandoned in the Syracuse territory and it still represents a very important economic sector today: Syracuse becomes, in qualitative and in quantitative terms, both on the Italian Market as well as on the European markets as a reference point for the fresh product. On February 3, 2011, the name “Limone di Siracusa” was entered in the Register of Protected Geographical Indications ( PGI ) - Regulation (EU) No. 96/2011.

Properties of the fruit

Lemon baskets (in Sicilian dialect: Panari )

The "Limone di Siracusa PGI" is characterized by a high juice content and the wealth of oily glands in the skin, as well as by the high quality of its essential oils. The Syracuse lemon variety is called Femminello , because of the considerable fertility of the plant, which blooms again all year round: The Primofiore ripens from October 1st, has an elliptical shape, the skin and pulp are from light green to lemon yellow and the juice is lemon yellow; the Bianchetto ripens from April 15, is elliptical-egg-shaped, with a light yellow skin, yellow pulp and lemon-yellow juice; The Verdello ripens from July 1st, has an elliptical-spherical shape and a light green skin, while the juice and pulp are lemon yellow.

The planting density must not exceed 400–500 plants per hectare, or 850 units in the case of dynamic planting. The plantings can be done with the conventional, integrated or organic cultivation method. All growing operations must be carried out in such a way as to maintain the correct balance and development of the plant, which must always be exposed to correct ventilation and the sun. The fruits are harvested manually and directly from the tree, using harvesting shears to cut through the stalk.

Thanks to its qualitative properties, the "Limone di Siracusa" is not only marketed as a fresh fruit, but also in other areas; They concern in particular the food sector, the medical-scientific sector, the cosmetics and perfume industries, which supply themselves with juices and essential oils through the processing companies.

Production capacity

The Limone di Siracusa represents over 30% of the national supply of lemons. The current consumption area of the "Limone di Siracusa PGI" is predominantly the Italian market for organized wholesaling , especially in northern Italy; export within the EU is directed to the markets of Germany , Austria , France , the United Kingdom , Denmark ; the most important market outside the EU is Norway . Since the PGI was recognized (February 3, 2011), the Limone di Siracusa PGI has become more and more popular: certified 1,503,089 kg during the 2011/2012 campaign, 1,641,092 kg during the 2012/2013 campaign (+ 7.25% year-on-year), 2,604,397 kg in the course of the 2013/2014 campaign (+58.7% year-on-year, +70.21% in absolute numbers), 2,472,100 kg in the course of the 2014/2015 campaign (−5.08 % year-on-year, + 61.56% in absolute terms), 3,608,822 over the course of the 2015/2016 campaign (+ 45.98% year-on-year, +135.85% in absolute terms), 5,357,104 kg over the course of the Campaign 2016/2017 (+ 48.44% year-on-year, + 250.11% in absolute numbers), 6,431.717 kg in the course of the 2017/2018 campaign (+ 20.05% year-on-year, + 320.35% in absolute terms Numbers). The marketing of the fresh product in the "Limone di Siracusa PGI" packaging is reserved for the members of the consortium. The product is marketed as “Limone di Siracusa PGI”: it can be marketed unpacked or in suitable boxes made of cardboard, wood, plastic or in nets and bags with plastic straps firmly attached to the net. The commercial classes are exclusively Extra and I, while the lower classes are also permitted for the manufacture of processed products, which are in any case subject to the same provisions of the product specification.

Use of the product

The juice and peel of Limone di Siracusa (PGI) are recognized as high quality and are in great demand by leading companies in the food sector for the production of ice cream, sweets, baked goods, soft drinks, jams, liqueurs, limoncello and a wide range of semi-finished products. The essential oils are in great demand in cosmetics and by the most important perfume companies in the world.

Curiosities and folklore

The feast of Santa Lucia in Syracuse

Every year on December 13th, the city of Syracuse celebrates the patron saint of Santa Lucia with a long procession from Piazza Duomo in Ortigia to the church of Santa Lucia al Sepolcro. Eight days later, on December 20th, the procession took the opposite route. On December 13th, the large candles on the corners of the statue are traditionally covered with flowers, while on December 20th, candles decorated with lemons and oranges are placed next to the silver statue. The gift of early fruit to the saint had not only an aesthetic value, but also a meaning of its own: it represented the path of the procession from the countryside to the city, if the area of Piazza Santa Lucia represented the northern limit of urbanization, and the definition of "City" of the island of Ortigia was reserved.

Lemons (PGI) in the European Union

Italy has an area of 16,693 hectares grown with lemons. The Limone di Siracusa , with a surface of about 6,000 hectares, represents over 30% of the total national production. The production area covers the coastal strip of 10 municipalities in the province of Syracuse , in Sicily : Augusta , Avola , Melilli , Noto and Syracuse, to which part of the inner territory belonging to the municipalities of Floridia , Solarino , Priolo Gargallo , Rosolini and Sortino is added.

These are the areas cultivated with lemons with Protected Geographical Indication in the European Union :

PGI variety	origin	Surface in hectares (ha)
Limone di Siracusa	Italy	6,000
Citricos Valencianos	Spain	3,300
Lime Interdonato di Messina	Italy	950
Limone di Sorrento	Italy	400
Limone di Amalfi	Italy	400
Lime Femminello del Gargano	Italy	400
Citrinos do Algarve	Portugal	320
Limone di Rocca Imperiale	Italy	200
Citron de Menton	France	n / A

The European Union boasts eight designations ( PGI ) for lemon: six have been granted by Italy , one by France , one by Spain and one by Portugal . In addition to the "Limone di Siracusa", the Italian names include the " Limone di Sorrento ", the "Limone Costa d'Amalfi", the "Interdonato di Messina", the "Femminello del Gargano" and the "Limone di Rocca Imperiale". The French name is the "Citron de Menton". The Spanish name is "Citricos Valencianos", while in Portugal the variety "Citrinos do Algarve" is protected.

The consortium

The Consortium for the Protection of Limone di Siracusa PGI was created on July 13, 2000, is non-profit making and is not engaged in commercial activities. The consortium has among its main tasks:

The determination of the production zones and the varieties to be placed under protection;
The monitoring of the proper use of the designation "Limone di Siracusa PGI" in the zone of origin and in the markets;
The implementation of promotional initiatives in Italy and abroad with the aim of spreading knowledge and image of the product and the PGI seal .

Michele Salvatore Lonzi has been President of the Consortium for the Protection of Limone di Siracusa PGI since February 22, 2018

Individual evidence

↑ The territory of Syracuse represents over 30% of the national lemon cultivation area.

↑ It is in turn divided into green Primofiore , from October to December, and winter Primofiore , from December to March.

↑ Also known as Maiolino .

↑ Or summer lemon .

↑ Together with grain, wine and carob, citrus fruits were the most important Syracuse export items until the outbreak of World War I. To a lesser extent, but always considerable, there was also export of olive oil and sweet almonds in the shell.

^ Official data of the Syracuse port, citrus fruit campaigns 1902–1903 and 1903–1904.

↑ The conventional method is the method used in the area, taking into account the norms of "Good Agricultural Practice" of the Sicily region; the integrated method implies observance of the technical prescriptions envisaged by the specification of the Sicily Region, in the adoption of the regulations (EC) in the field of agri-environment; the biological method refers to Regulation (EC) No. 834/2007.

↑ Data IZSS - Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia - control point.

literature

AA. VV., Il Limone di Siracusa , 2001, Regione Siciliana - Assessorato Regionale Agricoltura e Foreste, Palermo
A. Buttitta, Dove Fiorisce il limone , 1984, Sellerio, Palermo
F. Calabrese, La favolosa storia degli agrumi , 1998, L'Epos, Palermo
O. Cancila, L'economia in Sicilia: aspetti storici , 1992, Mondadori, Milano
AL Lippi Guidi, Appunti per una storia del limone di Siracusa , 1999, Regione Siciliana - Assessorato Regionale Agricoltura e Foreste, Palermo
G. Renda, Bernardo Tanucci ei Gesuiti in Sicilia , 1974, Edizioni Storia e Letteratura, Roma
DM Smith, Storia della Sicilia medievale e moderna , 1983, Laterza, Bari