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<pre>> > Can anyone provide any background or history about these two Italian
> > cultivars: Bosana & Madonna dell'Impruneta? It's my understanding that
> > Bosana is Sardinian and Madonna dell'Impruneta is Tuscan.
>
> Yes, Bosana is Sardinian, that's for sure. We had data from quite a lot of
> Bosana from Sardinia to examine, a few years ago when I was carrying out
> data analysis on different italian varieties. Most of the Sardinia samples
> (maybe all - I'm not sure) were Bosana. There were no Bosana from
elsewhere.
>
> Not surprisingly, being a native variety to Sardinia, we were able to
> distinguish Bosana oil from other varieties with our instruments. I don't
> know how the taste may differ, though.
>
> Adrian
> --
> Adrian.Shaw@aber.ac.uk
> Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Wales,
> Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales
> http://pcjagg.dbs.aber.ac.uk/index.html
>
Yes, Bosana is the most important variety in Sardinia, with about 3 millions
trees.

It is cultivated all over the island, but mainly in the area of Sassary and
in the region of Montiferru (Western Sardinia). It's probably derived from
spanish cultivars, imported hundreds years ago during spanish colonization
of Sardinia.

It is a productive cultivar, and the fruits have a good percentage of oil,
but the production is alternated.

Probably it was easy to distinguish bosana from other varieties because of
its high rate of polyphenols, that gives it a very strong bitter. For the
same reason is often used mixed with other oils, whether for getting a more
equilibrated taste or to increase the characteristics of flat taste oils.

It is also synonym of Palma, Tondo di Sassari and Olieddu.


Paolo

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Paolo M. Callioni
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dottore agronomo

Agricoltura, paesaggio e territorio
http://web.tiscalinet.it/callioni/

Via Porto Botte 102 - 09042 Monserrato (CA)
tel/fax 070-572984 cell. 0347-3408469
p.callioni@tiscalinet.it
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