Abstract
Citron has an ancient presence in Italy. Its current cultivation is mainly located in a region of southern Italy, Calabria. The chapter describes the history of the cultivation of citron in this region, the main production techniques that characterize its cultivation, and describes the most important cultivars, among all the ‘Liscia di Diamante’, whose special chemical and nutraceutical properties are outlined. Finally, the troubled history of producer cooperatives for the citron in Italy is summarized.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ali H, Houghton PJ, Soumyanath A (2006) Alpha-amylase inhibitory activity of some Malaysian plants used to treat diabetes; with particular reference to Phyllanthus amarus. J Ethnopharmacol 107:449–455
Arias BA, Ramon-Laca L (2005) Pharmacological properties of citrus and their ancient and medieval uses in the Mediterranean region. J Ethnopharmacol 97:89–95
Barrett HC, Rhodes AM (1976) A numerical taxonomic study of affinity relationship in cultivated Citrus and its close relatives. Syst Bot 1:105–136
Choi HS, Song HS, Ukeda H et al (2000) Radical scavenging activities of Citrus essential oils and their components: detection using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl. J Agric Food Chem 48:4156–4161
Conforti F, Statti GA, Tundis R et al (2007) In vitro activities of Citrus medica L. cv. Diamante (Diamante citron) relevant to treatment of diabetes and Alzheimer‘s disease. Phytother Res 21:427–433
Continella G, Tribulato E (1992) Germoplasma di cedro, pummelo e loro ibridi presenti nell’Italia meridionale. Atti del Congresso su germoplasma frutticolo, Alghero, pp 437–453
Ferlito F, Torrisi B, Cicciarello G et al (2016) Effects of seven rootstocks on the performance of Citrus medica L. ('Diamante'). Acta Hortic 1130:437–444
Ferrari E (1910) La coltivazione del cedro nel circondario di Paola, Napoli
Fersini A, Giorlando A, Tuoto G (1973) Il cedro. Pàtron editore, Bologna.
Goldschmidt EE (2017) New Insights in citron (Citrus medica L.) genomics and fruit development. HortScience 52(6):823–826
Grassmann J, Elstner EF, Schneider D et al (2001) Antioxidative effects of lemon oil and its components on copper induced oxidation of low density lipoprotein. Arzneimittelforschung 51:799–805
Gullo G (2012) Cedro. In: Tribulato E, Inglese P (eds) Agrumi. Collana Coltura e Cultura, Bayer CropScience, Milano, pp 386–395
Hodgson RW (1967) Horticultural varieties of citrus. In: Reuther W, Webber HJ, Batchelor LD (eds) The citrus industry, University of California, Berkeley, pp 431–459
ISTAT (2021) Istituto nazionale di statistica https://www.istat.it/
Jacobsen JS, Reinhart P, Pangalos MN (2005) Current concepts in therapeutic strategies targeting cognitive decline and disease modification in Alzheimer‘s disease. NeuroRx 2:612–626
Loizzo MR, Tundis R, Menichini F et al (2008) Natural products and their derivatives as cholinesterase inhibitors in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders: an update. Curr Med Chem 15:1209–1228
Loizzo MR, Menichini F, Conforti F et al (2009a) Chemical analysis, antioxidant, antiinflammatory and anticholinesterase activities of Origanum ehrenbergii Boiss and Origanum syriacum L. essential oils. Food Chem 117:174–180
Loizzo MR, Menichini F, Tundis R et al (2009b) In vitro biological activity of Salvia leriifolia Benth essential oil relevant to the treatment of Alzheimer‘s disease. J Oleo Sci 58:443–446
Luro F, Venturini N, Costantino G et al (2012) Genetic and chemical diversity of citron (Citrus medica L.) based on nuclear and cytoplasmic markers and leaf essential oil composition. Phytochemistry 77:186–196
Meena AK, Kandale A, Rao MM et al (2011) A review on citropharmacognosy, phytochemistry and medical uses. Int Res J Pharm 2:14–19
Menichini F, Tundis R, Loizzo MR et al (2010) In vitro photo-induced cytotoxic activity of Citrus bergamia and C. medica L. cv. Diamante peel essential oils and identified active coumarins. Pharm Biol 48:1059–1065
Menichini F, Loizzo MR, Bonesi M et al (2011a) Phytochemical profile, antioxidant, antiinflammatory and hypoglycemic potential of hydroalcoholic extracts from Citrus medica L. cv Diamante flowers, leaves and fruits at two maturity stages. Food Chem Toxicol 49:1549–1555
Menichini F, Tundis R, Loizzo MR et al (2011b) C. medica cv Diamante peel chemical composition and influence on glucose homeostasis and metabolic parameters. Food Chem 124:1083–1089
Menichini F, Tundis R, Bonesi M et al (2011c) Chemical composition and bioactivity of Citrus medica L. cv Diamante essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation, cold-pressing and supercritical carbon dioxide extraction. Nat Prod Res 25: 789–799
Miyazawa M, Watanabe H, Kameoka H (1997) Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase activity by monoterpenoids with a p-menthane skeleton. J Agric Food Chem 45:677–679
Monaco E (2019) Il cedro di Calabria. Rubettino, Catanzaro.
Nicolosi E, La Malfa S, El-Otmani M et al (2005) The search for the authentic citron (Citrus medica L.): historic and genetic analysis. HortScience 40:1963–1968
Nicolosi E, La Malfa S, Goldschmidt EE (2003) Molecular analysis of the phylogenetic relationships of 12 citron accessions. In: Davies FS (ed) Proceedings of the Ninth Congress of the International Society of Citriculture, Orlando, FL, 1:183
Perrone F (2011) Il Cedro nel Tirreno Cosentino: innovazioni all’insegna delle tradizioni. Collana informativa ARSSA, Cosenza.
Ruberto G, Baratta MT (2000) Antioxidant activity of selected essential oil components in two lipid model systems. Food Chem 69:167–174
Tundis R, Loizzo MR, Menichini F et al (2012) Airdried Capsicum annuum var. acuminatum medium and big: determination of bioactive constituents, antioxidant activity and carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes inhibition. Food Res Int 45:170–176
Tundis R, Loizzo MR, Bonesi M et al (2014) Citrus medica L. cv Diamante: an overview on the phytochemistry and potential health benefits. In: Hayat K (ed) Citrus: molecular phylogeny, antioxidant properties and medicinal uses. Nova Science Publishers, New York, pp 125–140
Wild S, Roglic G, Green A et al (2004) Global prevalence of diabetes: estimates for the year 2000 and projections for 2030. Diabetes Care 27:1047–1053
Nicolosi E, Deng ZN, Gentile A et al (2000) Citrus phylogeny and genetic origin of important species as investigated by molecular markers. Theor Appl Genet 100:1155–1166
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Continella, A. (2023). The Citron in Italy and Its Cultivation in Calabria. In: Goldschmidt, E.E., Bar-Joseph, M. (eds) The Citron Compendium. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25775-9_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25775-9_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-25774-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-25775-9
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)