Traditional

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

varieties have been, according to historical, archaeological,

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

, morphological, and genetic evidence, molded since the introduction of this

exotic Exotic may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Exotic R4, a differentiable 4-manifold, homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the Euclidean space R4 * Exotic sphere, a differentiable ''n''-manifold, homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the ordina ...

cereal crop from the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

in the sixteenth century.

History

The speciation and

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

of maize varieties in Italy, by means of man-made adaptive selection, maintained a broad

genetic variability Genetic variability is either the presence of, or the generation of, genetic differences. It is defined as "the formation of individuals differing in genotype, or the presence of genotypically different individuals, in contrast to environmentally i ...

for about four centuries. Traditional

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

and

ecotype In evolutionary ecology, an ecotype,Greek: ''οίκος'' = home and ''τύπος'' = type, coined by Göte Turesson in 1922 sometimes called ecospecies, describes a genetically distinct geographic variety, population, or race within a specie ...

s were sown in the diversified ecological regions of Italy until the introduction of

Corn Belt The Corn Belt is a region of the Midwestern United States that, since the 1850s, has dominated corn production in the United States. In the United States, ''corn'' is the common word for maize. More generally, the concept of the Corn Belt con ...

hybrids in the twentieth century presented outstanding ecological adaptation, yield and cooking characteristics. Most Italian agro-ecotypes of maize are from the ''Indurata'' and ''Indentata'' sections and their combinations, characterized by

kernels Kernel may refer to: Computing * Kernel (operating system), the central component of most operating systems * Kernel (image processing), a matrix used for image convolution * Compute kernel, in GPGPU programming * Kernel method, in machine learnin ...

with flint, semi-dent and dent consistency. A few local varieties from the ''Everta'' section (pop-corn) were also grown in Italy. The kernel apex can take different shapes: smooth, horned, cuspidate, rostrum-like or indented. The eco-

agronomic Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of economics that spe ...

characteristics of Italian traditional varieties match the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

and semi-continental climate of the country, with mostly spring and some summer (post-wheat) sowings; and early (summer) to late (autumn) maturity.

Classification

Classification, along the plant cropping and grain cooking characteristics, is summed in the following

ear An ear is the organ that enables hearing and, in mammals, body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals, the ear is usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists of ...

types; *Eight-rows (ottofile), *Large conic *Long-ear cylindric, *Polirows-subconic, *Short-cycle dwarf conic. An early description of 12 maize varieties was published by P. Venino in 1916, followed by extensive studies by Tito Vezio Zapparoli between 1920 and 1943. An extensive collection of 562 seed samples of local varieties was collected in 1954-1955 by

Aureliano Brandolini Aureliano Brandolini (August 8, 1927 – September 5, 2008) was an Italian agronomist and development cooperation scholar. Born in Calolziocorte, Italy, after studying at Liceo Alessandro Manzoni high school in Lecco with Giovanni Ticozzi, he gra ...

. The agronomic, morphological and

cytological Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living and ...

characterization, and multi-variate analysis, of such and other accessions stored at the germplasm bank of the "Maize experimental station" in Bergamo, allowed the systematic classification of Italian traditional varieties.Aureliano Brandolini and Andrea Brandolini. ''Il mais in Italia: storia naturale e agricola. II. Caratteristiche morfologiche'', CRF Press, Bergamo, 2006 According to such classification, Italian traditional maize varieties are: *Sections ''Indurata'' and ''Indentata'' (9 racial complexes, 35 races & 65 agro-ecotypes) **Eight-rowed flints and derived races: 6 races and 10 agro-ecotypes ***Ottofile puri (true eight-rows) ****Ottofile ****Ottofile tardivo ****Tajolone ***Razze derivate (derivative races) ****Cannellino ****Derivati 12-14 file ****Monachello **Conical flints and derived races: 5 races and 15 agro-ecotypes ***Barbina ***Biancone ***Montano ***Ostesa ***Poliranghi **Late Southern cylindrical flints: 3 races and 4 agro-ecotypes ***Montoro ***Pannaro ***Rodindia **Midseason Southern cylindrical flints: 3 races and 6 agro-ecotypes ***Altosiculo ***Dindico ***Trentinella **Extra-early dwarf flints: 4 races and 6 agro-ecotypes ***Agostinello ***Poliota ***Tirolese ***Trenodi **Microsperma flints: 4 races e 8 agro-ecotypes ***Appenniniche ****Zeppetello ***Subalpine ****Cadore ****Cinquantino Marano ****Quarantino estivo **Padanians: 4 races and 7 agro-ecotypes ***Poliranghi ****Bani-Scaiola ****Pignolo ****Rostrato-Scagliolo ***Longispiga ****Agostano **Pearl white flints: 3 races and 4 agro-ecotypes ***Bianco Perla ***Cimalunga ***Righetta bianco **Dent corn: 2 races and 5 agro-ecotypes ***Dentati bianchi antichi ***Dentati moderni *Section ''Everta'' **Pop corn: 3 races and 12 agro-ecotypes ***Bianco tardivo cremonese ***Perla prolifico ***Risiforme precoce

Future

Genetic erosion Genetic erosion (also known as genetic depletion) is a process where the limited gene pool of an endangered species diminishes even more when reproductive individuals die off before reproducing with others in their endangered low population. The ...

is a menace to the basis of further improvement for a monoic, allogamous species, ''Zea mays L.'', whose genetic progress is mainly founded on the combination of the structural and physiological traits, contributed by each parental genotype, and a hazard to the specific qualities of different maize varieties, selected throughout the centuries as a major element for each peculiar meal involving maize derivates.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Italian Traditional Maize Varieties Maize varieties Agriculture in Italy

Maize varieties Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

History

Classification

Future

See also

References