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The Italian territory is rich in fruit trees germplasm and in the last years many research programs have been carried out to characterize local cultivars and accessions for deepenings about them and enhancing the market agreement too. The Sicilian plum cultivars 'Sanacore' and 'Ariddo di core' and the Piedmontese plum cultivar 'Ramassin' were studied to highlight their qualitative traits including the nutraceutical properties. Moreover, since it is important to know in which way the qualitative parameters change during the storage period one more study was carried out by storing the fruits under modified atmosphere in the Tectrol ® system. The results evidenced very interesting aspects about the qualitative characteristics of the cultivars studied and a positive influence of the modified atmosphere during storage.

The Sicilian territory contains a wide reserve of biodiversity of fruit tree species that, over a period of several centuries, have found there propitious pedoclimatic conditions for their establishment, and genetic diversification. The indigenous germplasm characterized Sicilian agriculture until less than one century ago but, after the diffusion of new cultivars originating from genetic improvement programs, a great part of this germplasm was replaced and now these important resources are at high risk of genetic erosion. Recently, public interest in the safeguarding of biodiversity and the development of a new interest in genetic resources and their scientific, economic and cultural importance, inspired several political actions aimed at the valorisation and conservation of this material. The present study, funded by the Sicilian government, aims to improve knowledge concerning Sicilian plum germplasm, which accounts for a great number of the accessions on the Island, through an action of characterization that includes various steps: biometric, qualitative and nutraceutical. The study was preliminarily carried out on 26 accessions as a preliminary study to facilitate the development of an efficient methodology prior to extending it to other accessions localized in the Sicilian territory.