Melannurca Campana: the apple that reddens on the ground, on the melai

From Mala Orcula to Annurca

The Campania Region and the protection Consortium recall that the annurca apple has been present in Campania for at least two thousand years. It appears in paintings found in the excavations of Herculaneum, especially in the House of the Stags, evidence of an ancient link with the Roman world and the Campania felix.

Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History, places its origin in the countryside of Pozzuoli and calls it Mala Orcula, because it grew near Orcus: Lake Avernus was believed to be the entrance to the Underworld. In 1583 Gian Battista della Porta, in his Pomarium, describes the apples of Pozzuoli as round and sweet, with skin so red it seemed stained with blood, and says they were commonly called orcole.

From this came the names anorcola and then annorcola, used in later centuries, until 1876, when the name Annurca officially appears in G. A. Pasquale's Manual of Arboriculture. It is a genealogy of words that follows the apple from the Phlegraean area to the present day.

Sources: Consorzio di Tutela della Melannurca Campana IGP — Storia e origine · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Melannurca Campana IGP

From the Phlegraean area to the Alto Casertano

For centuries the annurca was grown mainly in the Phlegraean and Vesuvian areas, often on small farms and sometimes alongside vegetables and other fruit trees. In the twentieth century, the Region and the Consortium explain, it spread first to the Aversa, Maddaloni and Benevento areas, then to the Nocera area, the Irno and the Picentini, and finally across the whole Alto Casertano.

The Alto Casertano has for some decades been where the apple is grown most intensively, partly because farmland around Naples has shrunk as the coast has become urbanised. The geography of the annurca has thus shifted inland, among hills and valleys.

Today the PGI area covers 137 municipalities, wholly or partly, in all the Campanian provinces. The main areas listed by the Consortium are the Giugliano-Phlegraean area near Naples; Maddaloni, Aversa and the Alto Casertano near Caserta; the Valle Caudina-Telesina and the Taburno near Benevento; the Irno and the Picentini near Salerno. The specification describes medium-textured, well-drained soils with a pH of 6.5 to 7.5, and late flowering that escapes spring frosts.

Sources: Consorzio di Tutela della Melannurca Campana IGP — Storia e origine · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Melannurca Campana IGP · Consorzio di Tutela della Melannurca Campana IGP — Area di produzione · Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 129 del 4 giugno 2016 — Disciplinare dell'IGP «Melannurca Campana»

The right name and the two varieties

The Protected Geographical Indication is called Melannurca Campana. The Region recalls that it was recognised by European regulation no. 417 of 2006, published in the EU Official Journal on 11 March 2006, and Qualigeo gives the registration date as 10 March of that year.

The designation covers the fruit of two cultivars: the classic Annurca and Annurca Rossa del Sud, a natural mutant of the first, grown in the area for more than twenty years, which has the advantage of turning red while still on the tree. On the label the name must be followed by the variety, Annurca or Rossa del Sud, with the words Protected Geographical Indication beneath.

The specification describes the logo: a stylised apple with a red and green border, a white leaf and the letters IGP. Adjectives such as choice, extra or superior are forbidden, as they might confuse buyers. The protection Consortium is based in Caserta, checks are carried out by an authorised certification body and Qualigeo lists 140 registered operators.

Sources: Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Melannurca Campana IGP · Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 129 del 4 giugno 2016 — Disciplinare dell'IGP «Melannurca Campana» · Consorzio di Tutela della Melannurca Campana IGP — Descrizione del prodotto · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Melannurca Campana IGP

The melai: ripening on the ground

The most recognisable feature of Melannurca is reddening on the ground. The specification requires hand picking and forbids chemical thinning; after harvest, to complete their colour, the apples go onto the melai. These are small strips of land no wider than one and a half metres, shaped to avoid standing water and covered with soft material: once hemp, now pine needles, wood shavings or other plant material.

The fruit is laid out in rows with the paler side facing the light, then turned regularly and sorted by hand, discarding bruised or rotten apples; nets or other covers protect them from excessive sun. The Region stresses that this entirely manual practice is what brings out the apple's qualities.

Reddening is compulsory for both varieties, and no treatments are allowed during this stage. Picking and reddening must be completed by 15 December; Qualigeo gives a time on the melai of 20 to 50 days. In the end red covers most of the skin, which on the tree was yellow-green with red streaks.

Sources: Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 129 del 4 giugno 2016 — Disciplinare dell'IGP «Melannurca Campana» · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Melannurca Campana IGP · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Melannurca Campana IGP

September picking, autumn on the melai

According to an analysis by the Caserta Chamber of Commerce, picking takes place around mid-September; then the apples ripen on the melai, laid on straw-covered ground and left in the sun for about fifteen days. This is when the fields of the Alto Casertano and other production areas fill with red and yellow rows.

The same Chamber, in its analysis of the 2025-2026 season, notes that weather weighs heavily on the result: heavy rain during reddening can slow the work and spoil the apples' appearance, while summer heat, hail and late frosts affect the quantity and quality of the harvest.

The main trading centre is the San Tammaro fruit and vegetable market, near Caserta, which the Chamber monitors alongside the markets of Naples, Rome, Florence and Milan. For travellers, then, the melai can be seen between late September and December, and the fresh apple reaches the stalls in autumn and winter; the best time for a trip is October-November, when reddening is in full swing.

Sources: Camera di Commercio di Caserta — Analisi della campagna commerciale delle mele · Camera di Commercio di Caserta — Mela annurca, analisi della campagna commerciale 2025/2026

The figures of a regional apple

The Campania Region's profile shows the scale of the annurca in Campanian farming. With an average output of just over 60,000 tonnes a year, it accounts for about 80 per cent of the apples grown in Campania and about 5 per cent of Italy's; the cultivated area exceeds 4,000 hectares, 80 per cent of the regional total.

The Caserta Chamber of Commerce, in its 2025-2026 analysis, confirms the same orders of magnitude, more than 60,000 tonnes a year on average and over 4,000 hectares spread across the provinces of Caserta, Naples, Benevento, Avellino and Salerno, and stresses the weight of the Alto Casertano, the Aversa countryside and the Maddaloni area.

The Region notes that about two thirds of the crop is sold in the markets of Campania and Lazio, and a growing share reaches other regions, helped by the protected label and supermarket chains. Alongside the fresh fruit the Region mentions fresh-cut packs, a peeled and sliced apple in a sealed pack, offered to children in a regional food education programme.

Sources: Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Melannurca Campana IGP · Camera di Commercio di Caserta — Mela annurca, analisi della campagna commerciale 2025/2026

Small, crisp, sweet-sour

The specification describes the Annurca as a flattened-round or short truncated-cone fruit, slightly asymmetrical, with a short stalk, and a minimum diameter of 60 millimetres, or 55 if the tree is grafted on seedling rootstock. At picking the skin is greenish-yellow with red streaks; after reddening on the ground red covers almost the whole surface.

The skin is smooth and waxy, with typical russeting near the stalk. The flesh is white, very firm, crisp, sweet-sour, juicy and fragrant, and stands up well to handling. The Region highlights the balance between acids and sugars as the hallmark of its flavour.

The Consortium and the Region add that the finest fruit comes from trees grafted on seedling rootstock, grown freely and with little irrigation. The apple is rich in vitamins and minerals, and the Consortium notes that vitamins and fibre are concentrated in the skin: so it is best eaten whole, washed but unpeeled.

Sources: Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 129 del 4 giugno 2016 — Disciplinare dell'IGP «Melannurca Campana» · Consorzio di Tutela della Melannurca Campana IGP — Descrizione del prodotto · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Melannurca Campana IGP

At the table: raw, baked, in a sfogliatella

Qualigeo advises keeping Melannurca cool and bringing it to room temperature shortly before eating, to bring out its scent. It is eaten fresh, with its skin, and used for juices, liqueurs, tarts, sfogliatelle and the traditional baked apples, which the Region calls legendary.

The specification allows processed products to mention the designation among their ingredients only if they use exclusively compliant apples and state how much Melannurca they contain: a useful point for anyone buying a juice or a sweet as a souvenir.

In the national list of traditional food products, Campania also records annurca cider, alongside many other old local apples such as limoncella, chianella, San Giovanni and zitella. An autumn trip can thus become a small journey through different varieties, with the annurca as the starting point and the traditional apples of local markets as discoveries.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Melannurca Campana IGP · Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 129 del 4 giugno 2016 — Disciplinare dell'IGP «Melannurca Campana» · Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali 2022, allegato I (copia pubblicata dal progetto regionale Biodiversità Puglia) · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Melannurca Campana IGP

Seeing the melai, choosing the apples

The melai are the reason it is worth planning the trip in autumn: rows of red and yellow apples laid on the ground, turned one by one, make a rare and beautiful farming scene. I would go between October and November, to the Alto Casertano, the Valle Caudina or the Irno hills, asking a farm beforehand whether and when a visit is possible: they are delicate working spaces, and visits must be arranged with the operators.

When buying, I would check for the name Melannurca Campana with the variety and the logo with the stylised apple. A well-reddened, firm and fragrant fruit is the sign that the work on the melai was done with care.

Annurca apples keep well: in a suitcase they travel in a rigid box, kept cool, without bruising, and at home they last a long time in a cool place. I would try the same apple raw and baked, perhaps with a drizzle of honey, to taste how the acidity changes; and if some are left over, a tart is the simplest way to finish them.