🫒 Peranzana

Peranzana (Provenzale) is an Italian oil cultivar from Apulia, most widespread in the north-west of the province of Foggia. The same genotype, called Bosana, is Sardinia's most important cultivar. Growers find it demanding: it starts bearing late and yields little, and its small fruit is poor in oil, yet that oil is considered an important quality benchmark.

In Apulia, Peranzana covers about 5,000–6,000 hectares. Under other names it is also grown in Molise and Marche. Sardinian names for the cultivar include Sassarese and Algherese.

For the grower, the cultivar is not an easy one. Cuttings root poorly — roughly one in four; the tree is slow to start bearing and yields little: about 16 kg of fruit over the first five years. It flowers mid-season and briefly, and there is almost no self-pollination — about 4%. It is moderately susceptible to olive leaf spot and only slightly to olive knot. The fruit is small and holds little oil — about 15% — with only about 66% oleic acid. For this reason Peranzana is not planted very widely, but its oil is regarded as an important benchmark of quality.

Where it shows up. Peranzana appears on labels next to protected names. Oil sold as «Dauno» (PDO) with the extra words «Alto Tavoliere» must be at least 80% Peranzana. Sardinian «Sardegna» (PDO) oil takes at least 80% of its olives from Bosana and other island cultivars: Tonda di Cagliari, Nera di Villacidro and Semidana. Long ago, under Spanish rule, Sardinian law told every inhabitant to graft at least 10 wild olives a year or pay a fine.