''Annurca'', pronounced in Italy , also called ''Anurka'', is a historically old

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

of domesticated

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

native to

Southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

. It is believed to be the one mentioned by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

in his ''

Naturalis Historia The ''Natural History'' () is a Latin work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. Despite the work' ...

'', and in the 16th century by Gian Battista della Porta. However it was first mentioned by this name by Giuseppe Antonio Pasquale. Still today it is abundantly cultivated in Southern Italy, typically at the border between the

Caserta Caserta ( ; ) is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. An important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city, Caserta is located 36 kilometres north of Naples on the edge of the Campanian p ...

and

Benevento Benevento ( ; , ; ) is a city and (municipality) of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the Sabato (r ...

provinces, in the valley which is called the "queen of apples".

At excavations

'Annurca' is one of the symbols of

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

presumably at least since two millennia ago, as showed by the

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

paintings in the

Ercolano Ercolano () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania of Southern Italy. It lies at the western foot of Mount Vesuvius, on the Bay of Naples, just southeast of the city of Naples. The medieval town of Resina () was bui ...

excavations, a Roman city which was destroyed by the

Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius, a stratovolcano located in the modern-day region of Campania, erupted, causing one of the deadliest eruptions in history. Vesuvius violently ejected a cloud of super-heated tephra and gases to a height of , ejecting ...

, especially at the '' Casa dei Cervi''. It is believed that this apple is the one depicted at the ruins of

Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...

Description

'Annurca' has a white pulp, firm and crunchy, a sweet aroma, and a pleasantly acidic taste. The apple doesn't ripen on the tree, but is carefully placed in the sun after it is picked until it turns red. However, it is still notable for its characteristic flavor and high firmness, linked to its high concentration of

pectin Pectin ( ': "congealed" and "curdled") is a heteropolysaccharide, a structural polymer contained in the primary lamella, in the middle lamella, and in the cell walls of terrestrial plants. The principal chemical component of pectin is galact ...

, which changes its composition during the reddening process. There are two selected clones of 'Annurca', ''Standard'' and ''Rossa del Sud'' ("Red of the South").

Specialties

This cultivar is a very important fruit in the

Neapolitan cuisine Neapolitan cuisine has ancient historical roots that date back to the Greco-Roman world, Greco-Roman period, which was enriched over the centuries by the influence of the different cultures that controlled Naples and its Kingdom of Naples, kingd ...

, is listed on the

Ark of Taste The Ark of Taste is an international catalogue of endangered heritage foods which is maintained by the global Slow Food movement. The Ark is designed to preserve at-risk foods that are sustainably produced, unique in taste, and part of a distin ...

as a unique local cultural and traditional slow food, and enjoy

Protected Geographical Indication Three European Union schemes of geographical indications and Traditional food, traditional specialties, known as protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), and traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG), promote ...

status within the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

under the label "PGI Melannurca"..

References

External links

FourItalianFriends
Apple cultivars Ark of Taste foods Italian products with protected designation of origin {{apple-fruit-stub