Production techniques
The Polesano White Garlic is a PDO product subject to a set of traditional codified rules within the framework of a detailed production specification. The product quality characteristics range from the production area and the production techniques to packing and labelling rules. This procedure establishes the value of the product and guarantees its traceability.
The PDO designation is attributed to local ecotypes in the Ivory variety selected from these same ecotypes.
The product in the Extra and Prima categories have a minimum size of 45 mm and 30 mm respectively.
Comparison table between PDO Polesano Garlic quality characteristics and the information available on the National Institute of Research on Food and Nutrition (INRAN) national database.
| Parameters | INRAN* | VENETO-REGION UNIPD** |
|---|---|---|
| Garlic | PDO Polesano White Garlic |
|
| Water (%) | 80 | 62,9 |
| Proteins (%) | 0,9 | 5,91 |
| Lipids (%) | 0,6 | 0,24 |
| Available carbohydrates (°brix) | 8,4 | 8,0 |
| Total Dietary Fiber (%) | 3,1 | 4,93 |
| Energy (kcal/100 g fw) | 41 | 37,5 |
| Sodium (mg/100 g fw) | 3 | 3,1 |
| Potassium (mg/100 g fw) | 600 | 147 |
| Calcium (mg/100 g fw) | 14 | 6,28 |
| Phosphorus (mg/100 g fw) | 63 | 3,5 |
| Vitamin C (mg/100 g fw) | 5 | 15,1 |
| Antioxidants (mg Fe2+ E/kg fw) | - | 389 |
| Polyphenols (mg GAE/kg fw) | - | 66 |
| Alliin (mg/100 g fw) | - | 466 |
** Quality data from chemical analysis performed at the Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE) of the University of Padua.
A unique product
The Polesano White Garlic PDO is a bright white bulb vegetable, regular and compact in shape, having delicate smell and intense yet not sharp aroma lingering long due to its great preservation properties.
The alluvial soil (rich in calcium, magnesium, phosphor and potassium), the pedo-climatic conditions and the human factor – the ability passed from generation to generation – have combined to make the garlic cultivation deeply rooted in its territory and become a successful product.
But it is to the excellent nutritional characteristics that the Polesano White Garlic PDO owes its uniqueness.
A study commissioned by the Consortium to the University of Padua has revealed that, in comparison with foreign garlic types, the Polesano White Garlic PDO has a higher content of dry matter (index of better preservability) and far better nutritional characteristics.
The Polesano White Garlic PDO is a sort of domestic remedy, as defined by Carlo Nicoletto of Dafne (Dipartment of Agronomy, Animals, Food, Natural Resources and Environment) at the University of Padua.
Delicious and healthy
Today we all pay more attention to the quality of the food we eat for health and wellbeing reasons but also driven by the wish to go back to genuine tastes.
This choice is better satisfied by label products whose quality is guaranteed by a detailed production specification that certifies their value.
The cloves of Polesano White Garlic PDO offer all you can expect from a delicious recipe: intense yet not sharp aroma, delicate smell, and its great preservation properties are unmatched on the market.
Garlic is precious for cooking and is widely used for its manifold properties: antibacterial, antiseptic, mucolytic, hypotensive, and as regulator of the cardiovascular system. Garlic is a real cure-all remedy.
The cloves of Polesano White Garlic PDO can be eaten fresh, entire, minced, mashed, chopped, with or without peel: they’re always the best for our cuisine because delicious and healthy.
Seasonality
The PDO Polesano White Garlic is harvested between 1st to 17th July and placed on the market within May of the following year after cold-storage.
Packaging types:
- Braid from 350g to 1.2kg
- Bunch from 1kg to 4kg
- Big braid from 2kg to 4kg
- Big bunch from 5kg to 10kg
- Small basket 150g and 300g
- Bundle from 0.5kg to 2kg
Package weight: 50 g to 1000 g, containing a variable number of bulbs.
Historical notes
The presence of white garlic in crop rotation was referred to in some sources as early as the 16th century.
The history of its production has been widely proved as the Polesano White Garlic was referred to in some sources dated 1833 due to its primary role in the economy of the province of Rovigo. Studies on the Polesine agriculture show that garlic has become rather important for the evolution of farms in the PDO area.
Throughout the centuries Rovigo has been the reference marketplace for the Polesano garlic, as related in the Historical Archive of the Chamber of Commerce of the same town. The pedo-climatic conditions and the human factor have combined to make the garlic cultivation deeply rooted in this territory and become a successful product. For its major role as economic development driver, the Polesano White Garlic has been called the “white gold of Polesine.”
