Pomodoro di Pachino

Appearance & taste

The name covers four types of tomato: Tondo Liscio (round smooth tomatoes), Costoluto (ribbed tomatoes), Cherry or Ciliegino (cherry tomatoes) and Plum and Miniplum (plum tomatoes). Their hallmarks are firm flesh, a small seed cavity and a high sugar content with more than 4.5 °Brix soluble solids. The fruits are whole, fresh, clean and free of foreign smells and tastes and meet class Extra or I.

According to the specification, consumers appreciate the taste, the firm flesh, the bright colour of the skin and the long shelf life after harvest.

Production

The tomatoes are grown under protection, in greenhouses or tunnels covered with polyethylene film or other covering material; in summer the plants may be covered with nets against insect pests. Soilless cultivation is not permitted. They are irrigated with water whose salt content is between 1,500 and 10,000 μS/cm.

Packing takes place on the day of harvest on the farm or in packing stations in the municipalities of the area, so that the surface of the tomatoes is not damaged during marketing and does not go mouldy. The single-use packs weigh at most 10 kg and have a cover that tears when the tomatoes are taken out; open packs are permitted if each fruit bears a sticker with the logo. The pack bears the statement “from protected cultivation”.

Origin & history

The area has high temperatures and, according to the specification, based on Landsat and Meteosat data, the highest annual average solar radiation on the European continent. The sea moderates the climate, and days of frost are rare. The first tomato crops, on farms along the coastal strip that could irrigate with groundwater, date back to 1925; even then vegetables ripened here about 15 to 20 days earlier than elsewhere.

Because vine growing was still widespread, vegetable growing at first remained small. In the 1950s the areas grew; the plants were protected against cold snaps with prickly pear leaves, tiles or mats of cereal stubble. In the early 1960s the first greenhouses were built of reeds with polyethylene film, later of chestnut posts with fir-wood frames. After the crisis in vine growing in the 1970s, many farms switched to greenhouses, and the first cooperatives marketed the tomatoes under the name “Pachino”.