Family: Oleaceae

Origin: Italy (Sicily)

Resin especially known in the food industry, specifically for its sugary component, now only used in high-class as the price is increasingly on the rise because of low production, difficult work and too much competition with low-priced industrial products.
Also used in the herbal sector to stimulate the intestinal tract of the newborn without causing forced contractions.
In the world of incense this resin is not taken into consideration because it does not have important aromatic characteristics but, sparingly mixed with other components, it gives sweet notes of caramelized sugar and can also be an interesting fixative, especially if we want to add essential oils to our blends, otherwise they evaporate too easily.



History
The cultivation of manna ash probably dates back to the Islamic domination (IX-XI century AD); the oldest document mentioning the manna dates back to 1080 in a diploma from the bishop of Messina. Leandro Alberti, in his "Descriptor of the whole of Italy" of 1577, speaks of the manna that was collected in the city of Thuri Sibarite.In 1505 by Piero Del Riccio-Baldi, a distinguished humanist (Florence 1465 - there 1507) in his "De honesta discipline »He says: In our times, what they call the Calabrese manna is highly esteemed. Sicily became the major producer in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Nowadays the cultivation is limited to a few areas of Sicily, precisely only in the area of Pollina and Castelbuono, with a cultivated area estimated in 2002 at around 3200; here has the latest generation of growers who keep alive the precious cultural and cultural heritage linked to the world of the ancient craft of "Ntaccaluòru".

In some centers until the 1950s, manna was the basis of the local economy for local growers. The phenomenon that pushed the new generations to prefer work in the city, rather than agriculture, has strongly contributed to the abandonment of manna cultivation.

However, the production of manna offers a good income compared to the past (each kilo costs more than 20 euros, and the price is always growing).