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The lemon
Siracusa is place of excellence for some typical productions tied to one extraordinary historical and cultural tradition. The lemon of Siracusa is, between these, perhaps the piu' important. The cultivation of the lemon extends along wraps it coastal of the common ones of Augusta, Melilli, Priolo, Siracusa, Avola, Noto and Rosolini. In the inner zone a part of the common ones of Floridia is interested, Solarino and Sortino. The atmosphere introduces climate conditions moderated from October to March and barren from you open them to september. The annual medium temperature is of 18-19 C° degrees. The average of the principles in the summery period does not exceed the threshold of 31 C° degrees., while that one of the minims of the cold months piu' (January and February) does not come down under 8-9 C° degrees. The lemon is species much sensitive one to the cold and rather resistant to the high temperatures.
The femminello siracusano, the typical variety of lemon of the province will be able from next campaign 2007-2008 to already fregiarsi of brand IGP. A conquest arrived after seven years of job and that it will be involved approximately thousand producers of the siracusano engages to you in the annual production of something like 130 mila tons of “femminello” five mila hectares of lands.
The lemon less extensively is cultivated to world-wide level. In the subtropicali regions the lemon answers better here where the climate is more lukewarm, since he is sensitive to the colds in greater measure of other citruses. Therefore it can be asserted that the area of cultivation of the lemon more is limited regarding that one of the orange and the Mandarin.
In the Mediterranean basin the lemon has found remarkable interest colturale and trades them: Italy, Spain, Greece and Turkey. The Sicily represents the center limonicolo more important of the Mediterranean, with one production of approximately 50% of the total.
The cultivar of lemon they differ for many characters, but a marked heterogeneity like in the event does not exist between they of other citruses, which Mandarin, oranges and pomeli.
In Passed when the industry of the extraction of citric acid was flourishing, much importance was given to the percentage of present acid in the juice and for this reason the cultivar sicialian they were considered between the best ones. Today, with the synthetic production of citric acid, little prominence to its content in the fruit is given very and other attributes are placed mainly in evidence trade them, which seed succosità, absence, thickness and rugosità of the peel, uniformità of the product.
MAIN ITALIAN CULTIVAR
The cultivar propagate industrywide are not many. Of they the more important is '' the Femminello '' continuation from '' the Monachello '' and '' the Interdonato ''.
Common femminello: cultivar the more famous one and diffused in Sicily where they exist numerous cloni that they are behaved in various way in relation to the productivity, the quality of the fruits and the resistance to the badly dry one. Its origin is disowned, but far, in fact it thinks that '' the Femminello '' is one of the first introductions of lemons in Sicily. '' The common Femminello '' is one cultivar highly rifiorente with elevated allegagione ability. The fruit is much variable one for dimension, shape, thickness of the peel, seed number, percentage and composition of the juice. Such heterogeneity depends beyond that on the clonali differences also from the various age of closing. In Sicily on cultivar '' the Femminello '' 5 closings can be listed to which fruttificazioni correspond that assume particular denominations. In Sicily the more important closing, for amount of flowers happens opens them and from fruits that mature between October and March, they have epicarpo rugoso, acidity a rather elevated, present seeds in variable number and are famous commercially with the term of '' first flower ''. To massiccia closing of opens followed them ago that one comprised between the end of May and the beginning of june. These flowers also being morfologimante similar to those of you open them, gives to place to one fruttificazione with various characteristics. The fruits that are called '' maiolini '', '' Biancucci '' or '' ceruses '' have little rugosa peel of yellow color pale, a umbone appuntito, minor seed number and one more low acidity regarding the first flower. The maturation happens in the months of opens them and May. To the closing from which the maiolini are obtained it follows that summery of July and August. This closing is come true spontaneously but, can be exalted with the forzature, that it consists in suspending the irrigations for two or three months and to resume making them then to precede them from strong concimazioni. The fruits of this closing are the verdelli that they reach maturation the successive summer. In autumn the lemon '' femminello '' rifiorisce, species with taking place itself of favorable atmospheric conditions. The flowers of this closing are insufficient and they are formed scalarmente. The fecondazione is much slow one and often it is not concluded positively, therefore, the fruits are generally apireni. These fruits are famous with the name of '' bastard ''. They have smooth peel of loaded yellow color. To the end of the winter (fine February-March) other flowers are formed from which fruits are originated call to you '' marzani ''. The marzani are not never numerous. They more have shape or little tondeggiante, rugosa peel, umbone wide and crushed, high aciditmy and more or less numerous seeds.
Femminello sfusato: this cultivar is present mainly in province of Siracusa. One differs from the femnminello common for little characters. The characteristic that better distinguishes it from the cultivar previous is in the winter fruit, that more it is lengthened, with umbone prominente and junction to peduncolare pronounced, moreover, introduces moderately rugosa peel, succosità and high acidity and very rarely numerous seeds. Also this cultivar supplies various closings and fruttificazioni. Particularly appreciated, under the profile the production of '' primofiore trades them '', that he is much premature one.
Femminello santa teresa: this cultivare it has interested the technicians and the citrus-fruit growers for its resistance to dry, badly advanced one to that one of others coloni of '' femminello '' but inferior to that one of the '' monachello ''. E' be recovered to Saint Teresa Riva in province of selected Messina and from the Institute Experiences them for the citrus cultivation of Acireale. In spite of the character of better resistance to the badly dry this lemon it has not found great spread. Little systems in the Sicily exist orient them. The lacked spread this cultivar is from chargeing to the rather poor characteristics of the fruit and to the insufficient productivity.
Femminello continella: this cultivar door the name of agriculturist Saverio Continella di Acireale, than characterized it and it is diffused it for first. Its spread is limited to least systems. The pregi they consist in the elevated and constant production, in the apirenia of the fruits, the good yield in juice and acidity, in the sensibility to badly the dry inferior to that one of others cloni of '' femminello ''. The main defects are characterize in the predisposition to produce to a high amount of small-caliber fruits to you and in the spinosità of the plant.
Femminello dosaco: also this lemon has been recovered and selected from Saverio Continella. Its main characteristics are: elevated fertility, good predisposition to produce verdelli, lowest seed number, yield in considerable juice. This cultivar, as the '' femminello continella '' it is of recent introduction therefore is difficult to supply judgments objects to you. However it can be asserted that it is of great deserving interest and of being cultivated on a large scale.
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The different employ
To beyond the consumption of the fresh fruit for alimentary and culinario use, the lemon can be used in several ways. And in particular:
› the polpa it comes used in order to extract the juice of lemon, that it has multiple uses in alimentary within, chemical (citric acid), druggist, etc
› the rind or peel comes used for estrare the essential oil.
› the seeds can be use like pectine or in order to produce the oil you
The lemon juice
The production of the lemon juice industrywide involves the putting in work of procedures more elaborates to you. We see which. The lemon must in the first place be igienizzato and washed with disinfectants made up of it knows them quaternari of ammonium. Therefore, it comes cut along the equatorial section and private of the polpa, using it blots some similar to milling machines. The juice can be consumed therefore like is, or, previa pastorizzazione, omogeneizzato, filtered and deareato. The concentrated one (of inferior quality, from the organolettico point of view, regarding the fresh or manifactured natural juice) is obtained from aliquot freezing, removing gradually the ice or carrying the juice to low temperatures, in order sublimare ghiacchio with evaporatori vacuum packed (the frozen-dry juice).
Technical card
The juice constitutes approximately the 40-50% of the mass of the origin lemon and has characteristic following chemical-organolettiche:
• Color: yellow-green
• Sapore: sour
• Chemical Composition: 5-7 citric acid, free organic acids and arrange to you. 2 - 3 sugars, substance nitrogenous (especially vitamin C or ascorbic acid).
The multiple ways of employment of the lemon juice:
• to raw one in general terms uses like condimento of foods and drinks
• like purifying and diuretic in the diets
• like warm or cold drink
• in order to extract citric acid
• as natural detergent in pulizia of the house and many the other remedies “you make from you”…
Moreover the pastazzo, that it is what is left after the working of extraction of the juice, it comes usually given in meal to the cattle. But, essiccato coolness or, constitutes also an optimal raw materials (with to seeds) for the extraction of the pectine.
To extract the essential oil
The essential oil of lemon comes extracted from the rinds of the fruit, aromatic porose and, through several methods:
› manually with a process of spugnatura (technical used once and by now in disuse); once divided to half the lemon, the rind (detached from the fruit) on a sponge was pressed with force, than in its turn it came spremuta for rilasciare the absorbed oleoso liquid. Although an obtained juice therefore was of good quality, for requirements of question of the market and economy, it is today passes you to other methods of extraction with mechanical means. The choice of the extractive technique, naturally, determines in some measure is the quality of the extracted essences, is the extraction costs, is the extractive yield.
› to pressure with spremitura to cold (for shading and scraping) the entire lemons come introduced in blot some said “sfumatrici” that they leggermente abrade and they compress the external surface of the rind; in such a way the oleifere glands are opened and made to fuoriscire the essence. The technique of spremitura to cold of the peels produces an oil (also because mix the terpenico does not come altered from heat treatments),
but the yields are low. With these systems it comes extracted also of the water that must then be separated for centrifugalization.
An other technique of extraction of the essential oil of lemon is the spremitura by means of hydraulic press: with this system the lemons come previously sminuzzati and the melmosa mass that drains from the press comes then distilled in vapor current to reduced pressure. Residual of the centrifugalization and the distillation it serves for the production of citric acid or the citrato one of soccer.
Of still advanced quality the deterpenato is then essential oil, that it has one rendered aromatic 15 times very advanced to the normal essential oil and, obviously, has also a greater cost. If the oil comes deterpenato, that is private, for distillation, of terpeni constituent (the deterpenizzazione), it can be used is in order to extract dissolvents is sottovuoto, in cosmetic and alimentary within.
The extracted oleoso liquid - of yellow color, from the burning fragrance esperidia and the sapore citrato with retrogusto bitter and - is soluble in alcool and is constituted mostly from limonene (or terpene). Between the others members: canfene, pinene, fellandrene, terpinene, cimene, monoterpenici, alcoli hydrocarbons, aldehydes (citrale, geraniale), cumarine and furanocumarine.
Technical card
Constituent main: Limonene (60-69%), Acetates of Linalile and Geranile, Terpinene, Sabinene, Pinene, Citrale, Linalolo, Ottanolo, Citronellale, Bergamotene, Nonalolo, Mircene, Soccer Iron, Silice, Phosphorus, Branch, Manganese, vitamins (B1, B2, B3, To, C).
Method of extraction: spremitura to cold
Balsamic moment: spring
Yield in essence: 0,3-0,5
Intensity of the odore: 4
Density: 0,85-0,86
The uses
The essential oil of lemon comes wide used in alimentary, farmacologico and cosmetic within like aromatizing for foods, liqueurs, drinks, medicines and profumazioni.
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History of the Citruses
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The Citrus kind is born in China and in India, the Poncirus instead comes from Korea and China, while the Fortunelle is original of China. China and some regions limitrofe, are the lands that have given origin to the citruses, in fact, are just in these regions that we find the first testimonies written on the citruses.
With much probability, the cultivation of the citruses has made road from India towards Afghanistan and Pakistan, in order then to head for the West. An other test of the “migration” towards the west of the citruses is offered from the ebraici sacred books: the frequency with which the cedar plant is mentioned suggests that the Hebrew knew the citruses, or perlomeno the cedar, before it was Christian. In Greece the plant of the cedar is cited in various witnesses. In some papyruses the cedar is indicated with the name of kitron, in other witnesses of YOU century, like those of Galen, the term is used kitrion or kitreos.
The antichi roman called the cedar at first malus doctor, therefore citrus. The first reference in the Latin literature laughed them to II the century aC to work of Cloanzio Vero, later continuation a century from the botanical Opium that of it speaks in its book “de Silvestris Arboribus”. Teocrito from Siracusa, lived in II the century aC, not of ago mention. In the Evo Mean, during the first crusades, the French viddero for before turn the citruses and they introduced them therefore in their earth. Also the the republic marinare contribute to the spread of the citrus. In i centuries XII, XIII and XIV the citruses were diffuse in all Italy, Spain and the South of France. One thinks thinariety of the agricultural productions sicialian counts illustrious examples as ciliegino (the typical quality of tomatoes from the small dimensions) of Soothes, the lenticchie of the Iblei Mounts and Ustica, the pistachio nuts of Bronte, the ortaggi of the Flat one of Catania, the caper of Pantelleria.
The presence of the citruses in the island is radicata not single in the atmosphere same, aspect that an evocative characteristic presence of the garden donates to the eye always greens that collect the several cultivations symbol of the island, but also in their wide one I beginning from use in kitchen, cakies as the peels of flavored oranges that more important of the year to a typical plate of the poor kitchen scandiscono the religious festivities, the insalata one of oranges to flavor with oil, cipollina and the finocchi.
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The varieties of citruses
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The family of the citruses is much immense one and comprises variety tens, many of which are used for alimentary scopes and in the cosmetic industry, others instead, thought not eatable, thanks to their essential oils only find employment in the cosmetic industry. Of continuation the varieties of more important citruses, their use are indicated and property.
• Sweet Orange - it is an original tree sempreverde of China and of Japan, it was introduced in Italy from the Arabs in XIV the century. The sweet orange contains citric acid, sugars, vitamins and knows them mineral, comes used for the production of marmellate, juices, essences and scents. The red variety exists also, unfortunately less and less diffused because of the greater spread of the varieties without seeds. The neroli or essence zagara, obtained from the single orange flowers and much expensive one, is used in high profumeria
• Bitter Orange - the fruit of this variety is not eatable and mainly is used in the marmellata production of, while the leaves and the flowers are used for the extraction of the essential oil
• Bergamot - one thinks that it is a natural hybrid of the bitter orange. From the bergamot an oil is obtained essential a lot searched in the industry of the scents, used like base for the preparation of the water of colony. The oil of better quality obtains from the plants cultivated along the coasts calabrians since from these percentage of foreign countries is obtained one of 35-45%
• Cedar - of Persian origin, not to confuse with omonime gimnosperme notes like cedar of the Lebanese or cedar of the atlas. The fruit of the cedar can succeed in to weigh also a kilogram, is used for the production of canditi, in order to obtain the essence used in profumeria, medicine and from the industry of the liqueurs. The fruit comes used from the Hebrew in the rituals of the festivity of the huts
• Chinotto - cultivated in the zones of the Mediterranean, small orange from the sapore amarognolo of the weight of 40-50 is introduced like one grams. It comes used from the industry for the preparation of candies and drinks, often colored with caramel (from this the color of the drink chinotto)
• Lemon - it is a tree sempreverde, characterized from leaves ovals and fruits of yellow color. The lemon is the more important citrus, is as far as the directed consumption, is from the point of view of the industrial working. The juice of the fruit, rich of citric acid and vitamin C, comes used like astringent, antiscorbutic and dissetante. The lemon finds moreover wide employment in the industry of the liqueurs and profumeria. Also the industry of I cleansed use to you of bys-product ago to you from the lemon. Anciently the lemon juice came used like haemostatic and disinfectant, while the sailors used it in order to contrast scorbuto (the lack of vitamin C) during the long ones traversate in sea
• Limetta or Lime - because of its sensibility to the cold, the limetta mainly it is cultivated in tropical the tropical zones and sub. The fruits are of small dimensions and many acids, are used in the preparation of juices and cocktail. The limetta it finds moreover employment in the industry of scents and detergents. It comes used also as it plants ornaments be a matter itself them of a plant sempreverde that, in favorable conditions, all the year blooms
• Fortunella or Kumquat - petty fruit trades them, of small dimensions and from the rind dolciastra that, on the contrary of that one of the other citruses, he is eatable. The particularitity of its peel renders it particularly interesting for the production of the canditi ones
• Pomelo - it is cultivated alone in Thailandia and it does not have no application neither trades them neither industrial, comes used locally for the preparation of the marmellata housewife
• Mandarin - it is an original shrub sempreverde of China, the fruit is introduced more similar to the orange but of reduced dimensions. The juice of the fruit, rich of vitamin C, comes used from the industry of the liqueurs. Currently its importance is in decline because of the mandarancio, except appreciated caloric and more from the consumers
• Mandarancio - famous with the name of “clementina”, it is a coming from natural hybrid from Tunisia and, like all the citruses, it is rich of vitamin C
• Grapefruit - it is a tree from the fruit similar to the yellow, original fiber and C lemon color of India, rich of vitamin. In years 1990 in the United States, the rosato grapefruit, a hybrid with the orange has obtained itself, rich of vitamin C and vitamin To. It has a great importance on the industrial side and it trades them, since it comes consumed fresh and used for the preparation of juices and drinks. The rosate varieties are only used for the fresh consumption, since the carotenoidi contained in the fruit introduce problems in the preparation of the juices.
The discovery of the technique of extraction of essential oils is due to the Arabs, but the production of scents on wide scale with the extracts of the peel of the fruits and the petals of flowers has had to the Italians. Naples and the Sicily developed the techniques and, just from diffused the mode here of the exotic scents, than later on they arrived in all Europe. From the alimentary and dietetic point of view, the citruses assume a fundamental importance in the diet of the area of the Mediterranean that is moreover the main zone of production and consumption. In order to obtain the maximum benefits from the spremute ones of citruses, he is always advisable to consume endured them after the preparation, since to contact with oxygen, light and heat, vitamin C is degraded quickly.
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Curiosity
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They are necessary approximately 200Kg of lemons (at least 1500-2000 yields) in order to obtain a single kilogram of lemon essence and that of it explains also the pregio and the cost elevates to you. The elevated quality more of the essential oil of lemon derives from fruits not still joints to full maturation (es. in Italy the better quality of the essences will be obtained from collected lemons and uses you between fine November and beginning March for the ionic zones of production and until to all you open them for the zones palermita some. Beginning from these dates the quality are lowered).
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