Melo Spoletina (local variety of apple)
Malus domestica Borkh
RISK OF EROSION: High
DESCRIPTION
Only one ancient specimen of this variety is known to date. The fruits, medium-small in size, have a globular spheroidal shape. They ripen in October and can be kept for many months. The elderly farmer who kept them on his farm greatly preferred them to the other varieties he cultivated.
BACKGROUND
There are no historical references, nor information of any kind attributable to the Melo Spoletina variety. The genetic analyzes conducted using SSR markers on the accessions present in the regional collections did not reveal any cases of synonymy between the Mela Spoletina variety and the others. The analyzes also showed that the variety is triploid. This imposed the limit of comparing this variety with a subsample of 35 triploid accessions, excluding 120 other diploid accessions from the direct comparison. Based on the information possessed to date, it can be assumed that the specimen found represents a unicum, perhaps originating from a seed.
TYPICAL PRODUCTION AREA
To date, the only specimen attributable to this variety, is a plant that is at least one hundred years old in Savelli (Municipality of Norcia (PG).
Texts taken from “Regional Register of Autochthonous Genetic Resources of the Umbria Region”
biodiversita.umbria.parco3a.org/attivita/registro-regionale/elenco-delle-risorse-iscritte