Species: Allium ascalonicum L.
family: Liliaceae

Brief history and botanical notes on the plant
The shallot is native to Central Asia (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan), a region where many species still exist in the wild. From here the plant would have spread towards India and the eastern Mediterranean, although the exact areas in which the first shallot varieties would have been selected have not yet been identified. The name, both scientific and vulgar, seems to derive from that of the ancient Mediterranean port of Ashkelon, located in the southern part of today's Israel just north of Gaza. Pliny writes that the Greeks had six types of onions, including shallots, while the 1st century writer Columella supports the virtues of shallots, stating that this onion is the best of all varieties. However, it is not certain, given the similarities between some varieties of onions and shallots, whether the Ancients were referring to the same varieties known to us.
The currently cultivated shallot arrived in Europe between the 12th and 13th centuries thanks to the crusaders returning from the Holy Land (remember the Battle of Ascalon during the first crusade); already in the thirteenth century in France, shallots played an important role in traditional cuisine. In a manuscript codex from the 14th century preserved in the University Library of Bologna, shallot-based cakes are mentioned. Some sources claim that the shallot was introduced to the Americas by Hernando de Soto during his exploration of Louisiana. The shallot was already considered by the ancients to be a stimulant of sexual functions (as such it is also cited by Ovid) and in the countryside throughout Italy many popular legends attribute aphrodisiac properties to the shallot: the Roman doctor Castore Durante wrote about the exciting effects of the shallot in a book published in 1586.
The shallot is a plant about 20–30 cm tall, with cylindrical leaves. All varieties of shallots resemble onions, but unlike these they have a composite bulb (not a single one) and, at least traditionally, prefer vegetative reproduction. The inflorescence is of the umbelliferous type, the seeds are small and black. The bulb is tunicate like that of the onion, but smaller (generally its diameter once peeled does not exceed 4–5 cm), and is often composed of two or three smaller bulbils united in a slightly larger single tunicate bulb, overall slightly more tapered than the onion. It generally reaches a weight that varies from approximately 5 to 25 grams and is of different varieties, which are distinguished from each other according to the color of the external sheaths (purplish green, red, red-brown, pinkish red, purple, yellow, gray and white), their shape (spherical, rounded and elongated) and finally their flavour, which is also greatly influenced by the cultivation area.

Family and variety
The shallot (Allium ascalonicum L.) (also called shallot) is a plant of the Liliaceae family (Amaryllidaceae according to the modern APG classification). Similar to the onion with which it shares many characteristics and similarities in use. The name designates both the plant and its bulb. Among the varieties:
• The Jersey shallot has a pink skin, is short and swollen, with veined and not very spicy pulp
• Gray or common shallot, it is small and elongated; it has gray skin and the pulp is spicy and firm
• Shallot chicken leg, has an elongated shape and golden skin
• Romagna shallot, has long roots and is shaped like an elongated flask; the peel is golden, PGI product (since 1997) cultivated since the beginning of the 20th century in the areas between Faenza, Forlì and Imola.

Pedoclimatic needs
Shallots love temperate climates. Values ​​close to zero can cause the death of the plant, while temperatures that exceed 30°C or are below 8°C can cause an arrest of vegetative development. Lower temperatures are advisable during development (7-15 °C) than during bulb formation (15-25 °C). The best exposures are therefore completely sunny environments, because the growth of the bulbs is accelerated by the long days and high summer temperatures. The vegetable shallot adapts better to loose or sandy, medium-textured, well-drained soils, with a pH in the 6.0-7.5 range, with a good content of organic matter, while it avoids those that are too clayey and compact as they could be subject to water stagnations.

Sowing and transplanting times
The shallot is a multiannual herbaceous plant, but is usually grown as an annual. Unlike other plants in its family, such as garlic and onion, it generally does not produce flowers, which is why many varieties, selected for human consumption, are not widespread in the wild.
The bulbils are planted separated from each other, therefore if sold in tufts they must be divided beforehand. The optimal planting density can vary depending on the variety and the cultivation environment: the best results are obtained by burying bulbils with an average weight of 15-20 grams a few centimeters lined up in a straight line at a distance of about 10–15 centimeters from each other. the other, with rows 40–55 centimeters apart (also depending on the mechanical means available for weeding), a total density of 13-20 plants/m2. For planting, approximately 25–40 kg per acre are needed, considering that 1 kg of bulbs is approximately 35-40 bulbs of 25–30 mm caliber. The tip of the bulb should be positioned upwards, just below soil level.
If shallots planted in late autumn are subjected to a long, mild winter there may be a period of intermittent growth that increases the number of vegetative spots on the surface of the bulb. Shallots planted in spring, on the other hand, have more uniform growth and produce larger bulbs

Fertilizations
The shallot does not have particular nutritional needs, but is still favored by good soil fertility. Before replanting the bulbs in the same plot, a long rotation is necessary, at least 4-5 years, and, more generally, succession to other liliaceae, nightshades, cabbages or beets is not recommended, while rotation with carrots, wheat, lettuce, barley and radicchio. Organic fertilizations make the plant more sensitive to attack by parasites (as regards the supply of manure, it must in particular be well mature).
Crop care and irrigation
Considering the period in which the cloves are planted, irrigation is considered superfluous. Particular attention must be paid to the containment of weeds during the recovery of spring heat. Weeding is recommended to control weeds and to encourage the swelling of the "heads".

Adversity
The shallot is a plant less subject to parasite attacks than the onion, with which it shares the same adversities. The most dangerous are root rot, gray mold (Botrytis cinerea and other fungi of the same genus), powdery mildew, downy mildew, thrips, the onion fly (which attacks the bulb tissues) and the Ditylenchus dipsaci (stem and bulb nematode). Among bacterial diseases, Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. allii, an organism that attacks onions, also affects shallots and manifests itself with the formation of lesions on the aerial tissues of the plant which cause it to dry out. The disease can cause a decline in bulbs with a 10 to 50% drop in yield.

Production and collection
The agricultural yield is on average 10-20 bulbs per plant, around 4 kg/m2. The harvest takes place in different periods based on the intended use: that carried out in the month of June provides a product to be consumed fresh, while that carried out towards the middle of July provides a product that can be used for conservation and transformation. In peasant tradition, bulbous vegetables (onion, garlic, shallot) are harvested during the waning moon phases.

Nutritional values
Shallot is rich in sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, selenium, silicon. Selenium (Se) is an element that binds well with sulphur, which shallots are rich in, and is present in many tissues of our organism: it is important for growth and has an antioxidant action. The good silicon (Si) content would instead make shallots useful against osteoporosis and for strengthening nails and hair, given the relationship between the latter and calcium. The supply of vitamin C is good (although it must be considered that to assimilate it best, the shallot must be eaten raw, since cooking destroys it), as well as vitamin A and group B vitamins. In the literature It has been reported scientifically that shallots contain more flavonoids and phenols than any other member of the onion family. Among the flavonoids, vegetal substances with antibiotic action, there are in particular anthocyanins, substances which give the bulb its purple colour, very useful for the capillaries and for circulation in general, and quercetin, a molecule studied in the experimental oncology field and which regulates blood pressure. diastolic (the minimum). The volatile components responsible for the aroma are instead retained by the sheath that surrounds the bulb, and are activated when it is cut. The allinase enzyme, which is part of the defensive system that plants of the Allium genus adopt to combat herbivores, is responsible for catalyzing the chemical reactions involved in the production of volatile compounds that give these foods their characteristic aromas, odors and tear-forming properties.

Biodynamics
Sowing, care and harvest in root days.

Stefano Cattapan