# Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 613/2014 of 3 June 2014 approving a minor amendment to the specification for a name entered in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications [Pagnotta del Dittaino (PDO)], Division 5.3: Causal link between the geographical area and the quality or characteristics of the product (for PDO) or a specific quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product (for PGI)

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

The special properties of ‘Pagnotta del Dittaino’ described in point 5.2 stem directly from the morphological characteristics, soil and climate of the production area referred to in point 4. Those properties are without any doubt due to and therefore closely linked to the durum wheat used as the main raw material in the production process, which, due to the soil and climate of the production area, has excellent quality and health characteristics (free from mycotoxins) and confers on ‘Pagnotta del Dittaino’ PDO its unique organoleptic properties.
Durum wheat, as historical sources relate, was always used in the area for bread-making, unlike in other parts of Italy where common wheat flour was and continues to be used, giving a product that conserved its principal organoleptic properties for a week.
This was the result of the use not only of durum wheat flour but also of ‘criscenti’ (natural leaven). The fermentation of the sourdough is based on a dynamic equilibrium between lactic bacteria and yeasts. The principal microbial species found are Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis (Lactobacillus brevis ssp. lindneri), Candida milleri and Saccharomyces exiguus.
Much of the evidence provided in ancient texts was gathered in the durum-wheat production area and has come, over time, to constitute a store of knowledge and traditions relating to cereal production and, in particular, bread-making.
Durum-wheat production in the areas of the interior of Sicily, including municipalities in the Provinces of Enna and Catania, is an important activity, not only because of the size of the area devoted to it but also because it involves land traditionally used for the dry cultivation of durum wheat. In those municipalities, because of both soil conditions and the climate, the only crop that has been able over the years to guarantee local farmers employment and a fair income is durum wheat.
Evidence of the important role played by durum wheat in the Sicilian diet is provided by Pliny the Elder in his ‘De Naturalis Historia’. While in other regions of Italy, flour was obtained from acorns, chestnuts or from other cereals, such as barley and rye, in Sicily farmers learned to make bread from wheat flour. According to Sonnino, people in the Sicilian countryside survived, despite serious shortages, by living on bread made from wheat flour.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2014/613/annex/II/division/1/division/5/division/5.3 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2014-613/annex-II/division-1/division-5/division-5.3
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.