Publication of the amended single document following the approval of a minor amendment pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012

(2021/C 311/07)

The European Commission has approved this minor amendment in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 6(2) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 of 18 December 2013 (1).

The application for approval of this minor amendment can be consulted in the Commission’s eAmbrosia database.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘MELOCOTÓN DE CALANDA’

EU No: PDO-ES-0103-AM02 - 16 October 2020

PDO (X) PGI ( )

1. Name(s)

‘Melocotón de Calanda’

2. Member State or Third Country

Spain

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1. Type of product

Class 1.6. Fruit, vegetables and cereals, fresh or processed

3.2. Description of the product to which the name in (1) applies

‘Melocotón de Calanda’ is the fresh fruit of the species Prunus persica Sieb. and Zucc. from the indigenous population variety known as ‘Amarillo tardío’ (late yellow), and it is obtained both from the traditional varieties Jesca, Evaisa and Calante and from hybrids with at least one parent from the indigenous population variety, using the traditional technique of bagging the fruit on the tree.

Protected varieties: peaches protected by the designation of origin ‘Melocotón de Calanda’ must come only from the area’s indigenous population variety, commonly known as ‘Amarillo tardío’, and are obtained both from the traditional varieties Jesca, Evaisa and Calante and from hybrids with at least one parent from the indigenous population variety.

Characteristics of the product: peaches covered by the designation of origin ‘Melocotón de Calanda’ must be Extra Class or Class I as specified in the quality standard for peaches laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 of 21 December 2007 laying down implementing rules of Council Regulations (EC) No 2200/96, (EC) No 2201/96 and (EC) No 1182/2007 in the fruit and vegetable sector (2), and must also meet the following requirements:

GENERAL APPEARANCE The fruit must be intact, sound and clean, free of visible foreign matter, free of moisture and free of any foreign smell or taste. They must be bagged on the tree. COLOUR From cream yellow to straw yellow, possibly with a red blush. They may have very faint anthocyanin spots or stripes but may not have any green or orangey yellow tones, the latter being an indication that they are overripe. SIZE Minimum diameter 73 mm, corresponding to Class AA of the quality standard. HARDNESS Resistance to pressure measured in kg/0,5 cm2: > 3 kg/0,5 cm2 SUGAR Minimum: 12° Brix

3.3. Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)

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3.4. Specific steps in production that must take place in the defined geographical area

All steps in production must take place in the defined geographical area.

3.5. Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to

The product must be prepared for market and packed within the production area, in order to prevent it being impaired by excessive handling or by transport when it has not been properly prepared and packed. In addition, because ‘Melocotón de Calanda’ is a fruit that has been carefully cared for on the tree by bagging, and is picked when it reaches the degree of ripeness at which its organoleptic quality characteristics are at their best, any additional transport or storage operations could adversely affect the general appearance and colour described in point 3.2.

Therefore, packing in the production area is necessary in order to maintain the product’s specific characteristics and safeguard its quality, and at the same time guarantee traceability and the origin of the product via a single system of control until dispatch to the final consumer.

‘Melocotón de Calanda’ may be marketed in containers holding one or more layers, provided that the integrity of the fruit is ensured. The containers or trays must be used only once.

3.6. Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to

Preparation and packing plants which have obtained the certificate of conformity must include the words ‘Denominación de Origen “Melocotón de Calanda”’ [Designation of Origin ‘Melocotón de Calanda’] on the packaging labels, along with the numbered secondary label, which acts as a certificate and enables the product to be traced when marketed.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

The production area for peaches covered by the ‘Melocotón de Calanda’ PDO is the geographical district located in the east of the Autonomous Community of Aragon between the provinces of Teruel and Zaragoza.

The geographical area comprises the following municipalities:

Aguaviva, Albalate del Arzobispo, Alcañiz, Alcorisa, Alloza, Andorra, Arens de Lledó, Ariño, Berge, Calaceite, Calanda, Caspe, Castelserás, Castelnou, Castellote, Chiprana, Cretas, Escatrón, Fabara, Fayón, Foz-Calanda, Fuentespalda, Híjar, Jatiel, La Fresneda, La Ginebrosa, La Puebla de Híjar, Lledó, Maella, Más de las Matas, Mazaleón, Mequinenza, Molinos, Nonaspe, Oliete, Parras de Castellote, Samper de Calanda, Sástago, Seno, Torre de Compte, Urrea de Gaén, Valderrobres, Valdeltormo and Valjunquera.

5. Link with the geographical area

5.1. Specificity of the geographical area

Historical link: the varieties authorised for ‘Melocotón de Calanda’ production are indigenous to the production area, obtained by natural selection with the intervention of the growers, who over time have selected those clones which adapted best to the area’s geographical conditions. Medieval documents show that in Aragon peaches were known as presec or prisco, which is what they are still called in the Calanda area. In 1895 the botanist J. Pardo Sastrón published an important work documenting the abundance of peach trees in the area and the fact that orejones (slices of sundried peach) were sent from Calanda to the Paris Exhibition in 1867. The importance of peach trees in this part of Teruel and the production of orejones are also mentioned in the 1933 edition of the Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada (Espasa-Calpe), under the entry ‘Calanda’. Official statistics for 1953 show that Calanda’s canning industry processed 4 000 boxes of local peaches into peaches in syrup.

Historical accounts show that the name ‘Melocotón de Calanda’ started to become established in the 1940s, and as the crop was becoming more important and there were problems combating the Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata), the growers started bagging the fruit to protect it from infestation. Fruit industry publications of the 1960s began mentioning ‘Melocotón de Calanda’ and in the 1970s ‘Melocotón de Calanda’ won a number of prizes in successive years at the National Agricultural Fair in Lérida. At the beginning of the 1980s it was first suggested that ‘Melocotón de Calanda’ should be protected as a designation of origin and in the statistics of the main national markets, such as Mercamadrid and Mercabarna, the fruit started to be identified by its geographical name.

Natural link: the area where ‘Melocotón de Calanda’ is grown occupies the fluvial valleys of the rivers Martín, Guadalope and Matarraña, which emerge from the foothills of the Iberian System, drain the region of Lower Aragon and empty into the Ebro. The area is thus in the south-eastern part of the Ebro Depression.

The land is flat or slightly undulating, with an altitude ranging from 122 m at Caspe to 325 m at Alcañiz and 466 m at Calanda. The relief is predominantly tabular, dissected to a varying degree by river networks. The soil is calcareous with carbonate and gypsum horizons, characteristic of lake sedimentation in the hot, dry climate of the Miocene epoch.

Average annual rainfall ranges from 327,9 mm in Caspe to 361,1 mm in Albalate del Arzobispo and 367,9 mm in Alcañiz. May and October are the wettest months and the rainfall distribution across the seasons is as follows: spring 27 %, summer 20 %, autumn 34 % and winter 19 %.

The average annual temperature is around 14,3 °C in Albalate del Arzobispo and Alcañiz and 15 oC in Caspe; these are the highest values for the central Ebro valley. The average maximum temperature is 19,9 °C in Alcañiz, 20,1 °C in Albalate del Arzobispo and 20,6 oC in Caspe, and the average minimum temperatures are 8,8 °C, 8,5 °C and 9,3 oC respectively. The highest average temperature is in July, with 24,2 oC in Alcañiz and 25,1 oC in Caspe, while the lowest is in January, ranging from 5,6 oC in Alcañiz to 6,7 oC in Albalate de Arzobispo. These data show that the annual temperature amplitude is high, at more than 18 oC, which is indicative of a continental temperature regime, due basically to the area’s position at the centre of the Ebro Depression.

From March to October, maximum temperatures may exceed 25 °C, although this is more common between May, when the temperature exceeds this figure on half of the days, and October, when this figure is reached on between 5 and 10 days. In summer, daytime temperatures are above 25 °C and the average maximum temperature is above 35 °C (in July it is 37,2 oC in Albalate and Alcañiz and 38,3 oC in Caspe).

Another characteristic of the area’s climate is temperature inversion. In winter, when there are anticyclones, the cold air settles in the lower layers and forms prolonged cold fogs with maximum temperatures lower than 6 °C, while in the higher areas, free of fog, maximum temperatures reach over 15 °C.

5.2. Specificity of the product

Growing conditions: the morphological and variety identification characteristics according to the standards laid down by the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) are very similar in all varieties belonging to the ‘Amarillo tardío’ population. Differences have been detected regarding health, productivity, and size and shape of the fruit, which in 1980 resulted in a process of clonal selection to improve these characteristics. Other characteristics of these varieties are the late ripening period, from mid-August to early November, the yellow colour and the hardness of the flesh.

As regards physiology, the ‘Amarillo tardío’ population comprises varieties which need long hours of chilling – a minimum of 1 000 hours a year – to break winter dormancy. They also need a long summer to complete ripening, as they have a very long cycle.

According to UPOV guidelines, its morphological characteristics are as follows:

Tree Vigorous and upright, with strong branches of the Red Haven type. The flower buds, unlike those of other varieties, do not form on the vigorous mixed branches but on weak twig-like shoots, which means that this variety has to be pruned differently. Leaf Large, with reniform nectaries on the petioles. The leaves fall late in autumn, staying on the tree for a long time with their characteristic golden colour. Flower Flowering is medium-late, slightly later than Red Haven but before the end of March. Bud density is high and flowering lasts from 12 to 18 days. The petals are large and rounded, pale pink in colour, and the stigma of the pistil is at the same height as the anthers of the stamen. Fruit Size: large to very large, over 73 mm in diameter and weighing over 200 g. Colour: from cream yellow to straw yellow, completely uniform due to the protection afforded by the paper bag in which the fruit develops, although slight anthocyanin colouration may be present. The fruit has light pubescence and the flesh is very firm and completely yellow with no anthocyanin colouration, not even next to the stone, to which it is firmly attached. The stone is ovoid and small in comparison with the fruit.

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)

For woody crops, the effects of climatic conditions on the quality of the fruit are well known (the concept of terroir). Weather patterns in certain areas and contrasting annual differences in the same location show that climate plays a very important role in determining the quality of the harvest.

It is mainly temperature which determines the level of the main organoleptic elements in the fruit. In principle, except in extreme conditions, temperature has more influence on peach production than rainfall (water deficit), because most (95 %) of the area under peach orchards is irrigated.

The main climatic factors that have favoured the development and subsequent cultivation of the indigenous late-ripening peach varieties in Lower Aragon include the winter temperatures in the defined area, which give these very demanding varieties the chilling hours (CH) they need to break dormancy (from the time when the leaves fall until just before flowering).

As regards physiology, the ‘Amarillo tardío’ population variety comprises varieties which need long hours of chilling – a minimum of 1 000 hours/year – to break winter dormancy.

In Lower Aragon, the chilling hours accumulated during November, December and January amply meet the maximum requirement established for the crop: minimum values in the area exceed 950 chilling hours.

In addition, temperatures during blossoming and setting of the fruit should not fall too far below zero for normal development of the flower buds and thus the number of fruit, as the potential size of the fruit is directly linked to temperature after flowering, and more specifically the temperatures prevailing from full bloom (F2) to F2 + 40 days. It has been clearly demonstrated (Warringon et al., 1999) that cell growth is eight times higher where maximum/minimum temperatures increase from 9/3 oC to 25/15 oC. But if the weather is cold, there are fewer cells and they are smaller, which will limit the final size of the fruit.

Another important factor is having the right temperatures throughout the cycle, but especially in September and October, so that the vegetative and reproductive development of these varieties can be completed.

In Lower Aragon, maximum temperatures exceed 25 °C from March to October, although this is more common between May, when the temperature exceeds this figure on half of the days, and October, when this figure is reached on between 5 and 10 days. In summer, daytime temperatures are above 25 °C and the average maximum temperature is above 35 °C (in July it is 37,2 oC in Albalate and Alcañiz and 38,3 oC in Caspe).

The temperatures over the year in the geographical area in question allow the ‘Tardío amarillo de Calanda’ peach trees, which have a long cycle, to complete their growth and reproductive development.

Therefore, while the winter temperatures give the trees the number of chilling hours they need to break dormancy, the prolonged warm weather during the growth cycle (March to November) means that these varieties produce very high quality fruit.

The results of an evaluation test of selected clones of the population variety ‘Tardíos amarillos de Calanda’ (Jesca, Calante and Evaisa), carried out on an experimental farm belonging to the Government of Aragon in Alcañiz (one of the municipalities with the greatest number of peach trees in the defined area), show that, in the area of origin, over a four-year period (2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004), fruit were produced which had more than 14° Brix and were large and firm, these being the most outstanding characteristics of these peaches.

The plants authorised for the production of ‘Melocotón de Calanda’ PDO belong to the population variety ‘Tardío amarillo’.

This population is indigenous to the production area and has been obtained over the centuries, initially by natural selection of trees grown from the stones of fruit from the trees which had the best agronomic characteristics. Then, over time, the growers propagated those which adapted best to the area’s soil and climatic conditions, creating an authentic ‘population variety’.

In 1980, the Aragonese Government’s Agricultural Research and Extension Services started a process of clonal and sanitary selection of the ‘Tardío amarillo’ population variety with a view to improving quality and standardising the product marketed as ‘Melocotón de Calanda’. Thus, in the ‘Melocotón de Calanda’ production area researchers sought out the clones that best represented the ‘Tardío amarillo’ population variety, had the best agronomic characteristics and produced the best quality fruit (Espada et al., 1991).

As a result of this initial selection, the following varieties were registered and protected by the Spanish Plant Varieties Office (Ministry of Agriculture): ‘Jesca’ (Registration No 1989/2450), ‘Calante’ (Registration No 1989/2447) and ‘Evaisa’ (Registration No 1989/2449). They currently form the basis for ‘Melocotón de Calanda’ PDO production.

CONCLUSION: the population variety ‘Tardíos amarillos de Calanda’, cultivated both using the traditional varieties Jesca, Evaisa and Calante and using hybrids with at least one parent from the indigenous population variety, is the result of its adaptation to the environment in which it originated.

Reference to publication of the specification

(the second subparagraph of Article 6(1) of this Regulation)

https://www.aragon.es/documents/20127/20408990/Pliego+de+condiciones+modificado+DOP_Melocot%C3%B3n+de+Calanda+-+consolidado.pdf/e2877340-1cbd-fc3c-a9f5-0924479c0d18?t=1591269992936

(1) OJ L 179, 19.6.2014, p. 17.

(2) OJ L 350, 31.12.2007, p. 1.