Abstract
“Neapolitan limmo” is an ancient and rare sweet Mediterranean lime, now almost extinct but used until a few decades ago for the production of a fragrant liqueur called the “four citrus fruits”. The objective of this work was to compare, through the use of chemical (flavonoids, volatile organic compounds, and chiral compounds) and molecular (DNA fingerprint based on RAPD-PCR) markers, the residual population of Neapolitan limmo with other populations of sweet limes, identified in Calabria and known as “lemoncetta Locrese”. We report for the first time specific botanical characteristics of the two fruits and unequivocally show that the ancient sweet Mediterranean limes Neapolitan limmo and lemoncetta Locrese are synonyms of the same Citrus species. Owing to the biodiversity conserved in their places of origin, it will now be possible to recover, enhance and implement the use of this ancient sweet lime for agro-industrial purposes.
Highlights
National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Biosciences and BioResources (IBBR), Via Università 133, United Kingdom Dementia Research Institute Centre, Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, 125 Coldharbour Lane, Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico (MiSE), Via Molise 2, 00187 Roma, Italy
Since flavanones constitute virtually all of the total flavonoids present (e.g., 98% in grapefruit, 90% in lemons, and 96% in limes) [29], we focused on the major aglycone flavanones with their rutinose or neohesperidose glycosides as markers to differentiate Neapolitan limmo and lemoncetta Locrese from other citrus juices and between the two populations
Fruits and Leaves samples of Neapolitan limmo and lemoncetta Locrese were harvested in January 2018 and 2019 from populations located in areas of Afragola (40◦ 550 3700 N; 14◦ 180 4200 E), Pozzuoli (40◦ 490 3900 N; 14◦ 90 1100 E) and Pianura (41◦ 020 2400 N; 14◦ 110 0900 E) (Campania, Italy) or
Summary
Abstract: “Neapolitan limmo” is an ancient and rare sweet Mediterranean lime, almost extinct but used until a few decades ago for the production of a fragrant liqueur called the “four citrus fruits”. Neapolitan limmo and lemoncetta Locrese are synonyms of the same Citrus species. The first traces of the presence of limmo in the Neapolitan province date back to the end of the seventeenth century [1]. It was described as the fruit of Lomia or Lumia, a species of sweet and sweet-smelling Citrus fruits similar to lemon but smaller [2]
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