Ordine minimo €30, spedizione €9. Spedizione gratuita sopra i €100. Dismiss

Audio Player

THE WILD SOUR CHERRY TREE (VISCIOLO)

In local dialect “Visciulu”

Prunus cerasus L.
Rosaceae

🍒 STORY LITERATURE AND TRADITION

The wild sour cherry tree (Prunus Cerasus) is a variety of sour cherry tree native to the Middle East and Asia.

According to tradition, the Roman consul and general Lucius Licinius Lucullus introduced this plant to Rome around 70 BC. However, seeds from the Prunus cerasus family have been found in prehistoric settlements in Central Europe, suggesting that the plant was already native to these areas.

🌱DIFFUSION AND USAGE

📜 In Roman times, the wild cherry spread widely, and during the Middle Ages, it was used in the preparation of tonics and syrups.

👑 The Royal House of Savoy enjoyed its taste, but its low productivity, the small size and the ability to grow in harsh soils limited its spread compared with sweet cherries.

visciole sigi

🍷 THE FARM KNOWLEDGE

🔸Throughout the centuries, sweet cherries and wild cherries had different fates:

  • Sweet cherries were intended for land owners.
  • Wild sour cherries, more rustic and slightly sour, were intended for farmers and sharecroppers..
visciole sigi

 

💡However, the farmers discovered that with wild cherries they could obtain better and more refined products compared with sweet cherries!

🥄Wild sour cherry jam has a much better taste than sweet cherry jam.

☀️Wild sour cherries in the sun: An ancient preservation method used the heat of the sun to create a product rich in taste and properties, with no additional cost.

🍷 Wild sour cherry wine: This is an additional farm invention born from ingenuity and the need to make something special from what was available.

Visciole al Sole

SCIENCE CONFIRMS TRADITION

For our wild cherry products and others, we conducted a significant PhD study by Dr. Silvia Damiano at Unicam University of Camerino (Biotechnology), in collaboration with the Marche Region.

Wild sour cherries in the sun were given to growing children, adults who worked the fields and the elderly because they were believed to have a tonic and strengthening effect, as well as for the extraordinary taste of the product. This was confirmed by science, so when the experience is validated by scientific tests, we consider it the greatest success.


🌿 Farming wisdom transformed a humble fruit into a gastronomic treasure, passing down a wealth of recipes and timeless flavours.🍒✨

These contents were written and researched by the owners of the SiGi Agricultural Company in collaboration with the students of the Agricultural Technical Institute of Macerata.

If you would like to contribute to expanding the descriptions of these varieties, you can send an e-mail to info@agricolasigi.it 

We launched the e-museum of ancient fruits thanks to a social farming project of the Marche region.  The translation is by komalingua

This project enabled five young people with cognitive impairments, aged 20 to 25, to work on the farm. They were selected by psychologists and Anffas social workers, supported by the professional educator Il Faro and supervised by UniMc researchers. Coldiretti Marche handled communication and distribution.

This unique and challenging project led to the creation of both a physical and virtual museum of ancient fruits in SiGi’s garden. This is not only a great honor but also a significant commitment that we are willing to continue with everyone’s support. You can contribute to our projects by choosing our products, or you can do so directly here:

 

purchase products become Sponsor