Siracusa lemon

Did You Know?

• Every year on December 13, Siracusa celebrates its patron saint Santa Lucia with a procession; large candles at the statue's corners are covered with bouquets of flowers.
• On December 20, the silver statue of Santa Lucia is flanked by candles adorned with lemons and oranges.
• The Consorzio di Tutela del Limone di Siracusa IGP was founded on 13 July 2000 and does not sell lemons itself.

Origins

The lemon plant originates in Burma, where it grows wild, and spread through the Middle East, Mesopotamia, and Syria to the Mediterranean, which offered favorable conditions. Its natural habitat lies between the 40th parallel north and the 40th parallel south, encompassing California, Uruguay, Argentina, South Africa, and the Mediterranean basin, notably Italy, Spain, Greece, and Turkey. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, aristocratic monopoly on citrus growing confined lemons to luxury foods.

More intensive cultivation began in Siracusa in the early seventeenth century, led by the Jesuits, who were skilled growers. The lemon became a principal source of regional wealth, with output reaching about 11,500 tonnes in 1891. This success spurred citrus-related industries in Sicily that extracted juice concentrates, calcium citrate, and citric acid. The Siracusa lemon found considerable fortune in foreign markets, especially the United States and England, as confirmed by records from the second half of the eighteenth century held in Siracusa's Camera di Commercio e Arti.

Early nineteenth-century shipping records from the Port of Siracusa list destinations such as Trieste, London, Fiume, Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Malta, and Odessa for lemons, oranges, concentrated juice, and calcium citrate. Despite post-war urbanization and industrialization, lemon growing remained important in the Siracusa area and continues as a major economic mainstay, with Siracusa considered a hub for fresh lemons in Italian and European markets.

Fruit characteristics

The Siracusa lemon has high juice content, abundant oil glands in the skin, and high-quality essential oils. The femminello variety flowers year-round. The primofiore matures from October 1, is elliptical, with skin and flesh ranging from light green to lemon-yellow, and lemon-yellow juice. The bianchetto ripens from April 15, is ovoid-elliptical, with light yellow skin, yellow flesh, and lemon-yellow juice. The verdello matures from July 1, is spheroid elliptical, with light green skin, and lemon-yellow flesh and juice. Planting density is a maximum of 400–500 plants per hectare, or 850 for high-density dynamic planting. Growers may use conventional, integrated, or organic methods. Harvesting is done by hand, cutting the stalk with special secateurs.

PGI-certified lemons in the European Union

The production zone is a coastal strip across ten municipalities in the province of Siracusa: Augusta, Avola, Melilli, Noto, Siracusa, Floridia, Solarino, Priolo Gargallo, Rosolini, and Sortino. The European Union has nine PGI denominations for lemons: six from Italy, one from France, one from Spain, and one from Portugal. Besides the Siracusa lemon, Italian denominations include Limone di Sorrento, Limone Costa d'Amalfi, Interdonato di Messina, Femminello del Gargano, and Limone di Rocca Imperiale. The French denomination is Citron de Menton, the Spanish is Citricos Valencianos, and the Portuguese is Citrinos do Algarve.