The endless journey into the biodiversity to protect in Italy today leads us to celebrate the pompìa. A typical citrus of Sardinia that comes from afar, offspring of the citron and the bitter orange.
‘Sa pompìa’, a citrus fruit of Sardinia
'Sa pompìa', in Sardinian dialect, has long been classified as Citrus monstruosa, due to its unusual appearance. Larger than other citrus fruits of the Mediterranean, with an irregular and knobby shape, yellow like a lemon and similar to the citron. The official name is now Citrus limon var. pompìa Camarda var. nova, in honor of Ignazio Camarda, professor of botany at the University of Sassari, who promoted its correct agronomic classification. The citrus fruit is found only on the island, in Baronia (a geographic area that includes the municipalities of Posada, Lodè, Torpè, Budoni, San Teodoro and especially Siniscola). Its evergreen plants bloom between March and May. The fruits mature from November to January and must be harvested at full ripeness. The product, after processing, is available all year round.
In Europe the citrus fruit arrived, according to the Greek botanist Theophrastus, thanks to the survivors of Alexander the Great's expeditions in Asia, at the beginning of the 4th century AD. Its description actually corresponds to that of Dioscorides (40-90 AD), a Greek physician-pharmacist and botanist who lived in Rome during Nero’s time. He, in the ‘De materia medica’, refers to the Citrus Medica Cetra as a long and wrinkled fruit to be consumed after boiling in wine or honey. Exactly so in Oliena (Nuoro, NU), thanks to boiling in honey, the Citrus Medica Monstruosa candied.
In Sardinia the citrus fruit was instead brought at the end of the 4th century AD by a wealthy landowner passionate about agronomy, Rutilio Tauro Palladio. In his work ‘Res rustica’, he reports having himself introduced the plant into his own estates near Neapolis, an ancient city in the Gulf of Oristano. The pompia later appears among the agronomy and botany texts of the 18th century, particularly in an essay on the plant and animal biodiversity of Sardinia by Andrea Manca dell’Arca (1780).
Pompia, properties and uses
In local traditions, the pompia was used to polish copper and brass. Also for the production of cosmetics and food products, which only in recent years have been promoted as unique local resources linked to environmental sustainability projects. The citrus fruit, already recognized as Presidio Slow Food (1), has recently been included in the cross-border project ‘Sea of Citrus’. (2)
The essential oil of pompìa is renowned as the ‘elixir of health’. The oil is obtained from the fruit’s peel through decantation and steam extraction, without the use of chemical solvents. Several studies with experiments in vivo e in vitro have revealed numerous properties. Anti-inflammatory, anti-aphthous, antibacterial, antifungal, disinfectant, healing, and stain-removing. (3)
A spin-off of the University of Sassari – Phareco Srl, led by associate professor Grazia Fenu, is working on the development of new products in the cosmetic and nutraceutical fields. ‘The white part of the fruit contains high amounts of pectins, which are beneficial for regulating intestinal transit’, explains professor Fenu. The research therefore deserves further developments, which may receive support from the agency for the implementation of regional programs in agriculture and rural development (Laore).
The educational institutions and local entrepreneurship in turn pay attention to the Sardinian citrus fruit, to which theses, doctoral studies, and small supply chain projects initiated in schools have been dedicated. Like the ‘Golden Citrus Pompia’, from the fifth year of high school at the M. Pira institute, in the 2015/16 school year. (4) The University of Sassari has collaborated for years with the Municipality of Siniscola. ‘We work together on a local development project taking as an example what Savona has done with chinotto’, explains professor Gianni Nieddu. Creativity is not lacking, from ‘Pretziosos’ by Graziella Frau (artfully decorated sweets containing pompia filling) to the ‘fruit beer’ ‘Sexy Pompia’, produced by the Marduk agricultural brewery in Irgoli (NU).
A ‘Sea of Citrus’, initiatives and controversies
‘Sea of Citrus’ is a cross-border project, Italy-France, carried out by research institutes and local administrations in Liguria, Sardinia, Tuscany and Corsica. With the aim of protecting and enhancing rare native citrus fruits. (5) Partner The official partner for Pompia is the Municipality of Siniscola (NU), where last March a citrus orchard with 200 rootstocks was inaugurated on the grounds of the San Narciso agricultural school. The two hundred plants, supported by an underground irrigation system, exhibit ten biotypes taken from the oldest plants found in courtyards, gardens, and countryside. The fruit harvest will have to wait for a period of two years.
In the school grounds there are also some of the other citrus fruits featured in the ‘Sea of Citrus’ project. Chinotto, pernambucco, Corsican citron, pomelo, and the clementine. (6)
The controversies are not lacking, not even in Siniscola. Caterina Floris, opposition city councilor and founder of the ‘Resilience’ association, denounces that ‘two experimental fields for the cultivation of pompia in twenty years have produced no social, economic, or reputational impact. The project idea born in 1997 based on regional law 20/97 came to light in 1999 through a partnership between the mental health center of the ASL district of Siniscola, the Municipality and Ersat’. The objective of regional law 20/97 was indeed to promote initiatives of socio-economic relevance, but the social cooperative project that was supposed to justify the funding meanwhile granted has never materialized. While in other municipalities such as Irgoli, explains Caterina Floris, ‘A social cooperative born with the same law has thirteen permanent employees in addition to seasonal ones and, last year, reached a turnover of over 800 thousand euros. A coop that diversified its activity and now deals with the cultivation of flowers and horticultural products’The country you go to, inefficiency you find.’
Dario Dongo e Giulia Caddeo
Note
(1) The presidia Slow Food They were born to support small traditional productions ‘at risk of extinction’. Enhancing biodiversity and territories, varieties of vegetables and fruits, native breeds, knowledge and traditions, ancient crafts and techniques. The production specification crystallizes and preserves the ‘knowledge of flavors’, processes and products
(2) 'Sea of citrus' is a two-year project aimed at promoting an original offer of innovative and common products and services related to rare citrus fruits. Started on 15.2.17 and financed by the Italy-France Maritime P.C. 2014-2020, it aims to increase the competitiveness of micro and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the agricultural, agri-food, and 'green' tourism sectors. Thanks to innovations in production, processing, and waste management of citrus companies. Also through aggregation and shared marketing strategies. Thethe project has a total financial allocation of € 1,334,572.25, of which 1,134,386.41 comes from European Regional Development Fund (ERDF),
(3) Some ideas may come from previous articles in the newspaper La Nuova Sardegna
http://www.lanuovasardegna.it/tempo-libero/2019/04/23/news/quell-agrume-mostruoso-che-spegne-le-infiammazioni-1.17805981
http://www.lanuovasardegna.it/regione/2019/03/10/news/pompia-agrume-multiuso-dai-canditi-ai-cosmetici-1.17783357
http://www.lanuovasardegna.it/nuoro/cronaca/2019/04/11/news/anche-la-pompia-finisce-in-polemica-1.17799479
(4) Facebook Page https://m.facebook.com/goldencitruspompia/, Instagram goldencitruspompia_
(5) Municipality of Savona, Municipality of Siniscola, Province of Livorno, CERSAA (Centre for agricultural experimentation and assistance), Chambre de Commerce et d’industrie territoriale de Bastia et de la Haute Corse, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (France), University of Pisa
(6) The citrus fruits included in the project are the oranges of Elba Island, the clementine, the pomelo and the citron of Corsica, the Sardinian pompia, the Pernambucco orange of Finale Ligure and the chinotto of Savona
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT – Food Times) and Égalité.
Graduate in law, master in Food, Law & Finance. She has deepened the topic of green public procurement and urban food policies at the International Cooperation and Peace sector of the City of Turin.
