STRUMENTI PER AMPLIARE LE PROSPETTIVE COMMERCIALI DEL FICODINDIA DOP DELL'ETNA: COLTIVAZIONE IN BIOLOGICO E IV GAMMA

The prickly pear (Opuntia ficus indica L.), originally from Central America, is an unavoidable symbol of Sicily, of its culture and Mediterranean nature in the whole European imagination. The great dryness strength and contemporaneously the big productiveness of biomass are those characteristics which make the prickly pear a particular appropriate cultivation for those areas in which it is necessary to face all problems related to the poor or even absent water availability. The prickly pear cultivation in Italy gains in importance especially for food use of fruits. It is spread 90% in Sicily and 10% in Apulia, Calabria and Sardinia. The prickly pear cultivation has been characterized overall in Sicily by a deep evolution which determined an expansion of specialized plants, achieving considerable productivity and income levels. It was thanks to the increasing world markets' interest, particularly in the European ones, to a constant domestic demand, to a poor competition with other substitutable fruit in periods of greater production and especially thanks to obtaining an environmentally sustainable production which is characterized by a considerable reduction of chemical means usage and an increasing diffusion of the organic farming. However, the fruit market presents many difficulties due to the supply fragmentary nature, to the precariousness of the trade organization and to the reduced importance of a product in the national fruit and vegetable markets. A huge progress in the product promotion and valorization was made in 2003 with the recognition of the Protected Designation Origin (PDO) of the Etna prickly pear. This has been followed by the constitution of the "Consorzio per la Tutela del Ficodindia DOP dell'Etna", as a guarantor for the quality and authenticity observing the production regulations. Parallel to the progressive expansion of prickly pear cultivations and productions it did not occur a similar developing process of the trade phase of such a fruit. One of the causes could be attributable to the plurality of the commercial operators who make the supply not much consolidated. In addition, it could be due to an inadequate marketing action. With specific reference to this fruit, a limitation to its marketability is represented not only by the reduction in quality due to the biological and physiological processes which occur in the post harvest phase but also by the difficulty with the handling and peeling of the fruit. The possibility to extend the peeled fruit shelf-life, through a treatment with natural materials and/or the use of edible packaging films, represents an opportunity to improve the fruit marketing and to reach markets away from the production area. This is how it is possible to overcome also all those problems related to the fruit morphological appearance, such as: the peel, the seeds and the prickles that often cause skepticism for a consumer. Concerning this, the "Consorzio per la Tutela del Ficodindia DOP dell'Etna" has identified the minimally processed packaging tool for the development of the commercial channels of the prickly pear.