# The 'ntaccaluòri of manna in the ash groves of Castelbuono

> Who harvests manna today in Castelbuono and Pollina: the summer days of the 'ntaccaluòri, the thread technique, the young growers and the ash groves to replant.

- Page: https://www.lemadonie.it/en/magazine/castelbuono-manna-ash-tree-crystal/
- Updated: 2026-10-19
- Published: 2026-09-28
- Author: Redazione Le Madonie
- Other languages: [Italiano](https://www.lemadonie.it/magazine/manna-castelbuono.md) · [Español](https://www.lemadonie.it/es/revista/mana-de-castelbuono-el-cristal-de-los-fresnos.md) · [Français](https://www.lemadonie.it/fr/magazine/manne-de-castelbuono.md) · [Deutsch](https://www.lemadonie.it/de/magazin/manna-von-castelbuono.md)

Every summer, in July and August, a few dozen people in the ash groves of Castelbuono and Pollina cut the bark of the trees by hand to make manna flow. They are called *'ntaccaluòri*. They work from dawn into the full heat, every day for two months, and almost all of them are elderly: according to the Slow Food Presidium only two live mainly off manna.

This is the story of the people who make it. If you want to know what manna is, the types, how to recognise it and where to buy it, it's all in the [guide to Madonie manna](https://www.lemadonie.it/en/food/madonie-manna/).

**At a glance**

- **Who**: the *'ntaccaluòri*, about thirty according to a grower interviewed by Linkiesta in 2025.
- **Where**: about 250 hectares of ash groves around [Castelbuono](https://www.lemadonie.it/en/villages/castelbuono/) and [Pollina](https://www.lemadonie.it/en/villages/pollina/), of which only 20-30% still produce (Fondazione Slow Food).
- **When**: from July to August, with work starting at the end of the night.
- **How much**: about 90 kilos of manna a year per harvester, against 300 in the 1950s (Slow Food).
- **To see it**: the ash grove visits of the [Sagra della Manna in Pollina](https://www.lemadonie.it/en/events/sagra-della-manna-pollina/), 10 to 13 August in 2026.

## Who harvests manna today

Until after the Second World War, manna ash was the main work of many families in the Madonie, writes the Fondazione Slow Food. Today there are still quite a few harvesters, but most are elderly, and for almost all of them manna is extra income, not a living.

Nobody keeps an official count. Here are the figures the sources give, each with its date.

| Source | Year | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Fondazione Slow Food | current page | harvesters still numerous but elderly, only 2 live mainly off manna |
| Balarm, interview with Giulio Gelardi | 2021 | about 40 producers in the whole world, almost all in the Madonie and mostly over eighty |
| Il Gattopardo | 2024 | in the Madonie manna involves 4 cooperatives |
| Linkiesta, interview with Emilio Appiano | 2025 | about thirty keepers of the cutting craft left |

The know-how isn't in books. You learn it in the field from an experienced grower, or from father to son, Appiano told Linkiesta. Skip one generation and the technique is lost.

## A day as an 'ntaccaluòru

Work starts at the end of the night and goes on into the heat, every day for at least two months: that's how Emilio Appiano describes it to Il Gattopardo. There are three tools, listed by the Slow Food Presidium: the *mannaruòlu*, the curved billhook for cutting; the *rasula*, for scraping the manna left in the grooves of the bark; and a large prickly pear pad, for collecting what drips to the ground.

The cut goes from the bottom up, without pushing the blade too deep, where the sap runs. Appiano makes about sixty a day. The sap comes out very liquid and in the heat crystallises quickly into small white concretions.

For clean manna, nylon threads are hung under the cut: real fishing lines hooked to a small metal channel. The manna runs down and sets along the thread. What stays liquid and drips to the foot of the tree is picked up with prickly pear pads: this is the rottame, less valuable, which goes to the mannitol industry.

Then comes the wait. Appiano stores the manna in chests, dry and dark, for two to four years: freshly harvested it tastes too cloying.

## The thread that changed manna

Until a few decades ago, manna was left on the tree for a week and then scraped off, together with bits of bark, small insects and other impurities. Giulio Gelardi, son of one of the oldest producers in Pollina, tells the story to Balarm.

As a boy he hated manna: work that broke your back without paying for your day. He left for Tuscany for about fifteen years and came back at 35, determined to turn it into a product that paid. After several attempts he found the method of the thread hung where the sap forms the stalactite.

Gelardi lists three advantages. The manna stays pure and can be sold without going through industry. It dries faster, because it gets more air. And it is less exposed to rain, which with the old method could ruin a whole summer's harvest. In 2021 he had 500 trees between Pollina and Castelbuono and was the largest producer; his is the producer's name given on the [Slow Food Presidium page](https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/it/presidi-slow-food/manna-delle-madonie/).

## The youngest grower

Emilio Appiano is from Castelbuono. At 12 he started cutting on his own, copying the farmers, then did his apprenticeship in the ash grove of Pino Genchi, one of the big producers in the area (Il Gattopardo, 2024). He has been growing ash since 2013, he told Linkiesta in 2025, when he was 24.

His numbers, as Il Gattopardo reports them:

- 1,100 ash trees in Castelbuono, 500 his own and the rest rented;
- about one quintal (100 kg) of manna a year;
- sold in sachets and larger packs in the Madonie, in delis in northern Italy and in Switzerland;
- a price that can reach 500 euros a kilo, a sign of how small the quantities are.

## What can ruin a manna summer

The ash tree needs no water, but manna needs the right weather. A shower, humidity that's too high or even too much heat is enough to stop production, writes Linkiesta. In the best seasons a tree gives on average 200 grams of manna, at most a kilo.

Then there's the problem of the trees. Of the ash groves that once covered thousands of hectares in north-western Sicily, about 250 are left, and only 20-30% of the trees still produce (Slow Food). Il Gattopardo adds that the groves in use have grown old: they should be cut back and renewed.

The economics of the trade have changed. In the 1950s a harvester brought home about 300 kilos of manna a year, today about 90. In 1965 a kilo cost 1,500 lire; today, writes Slow Food, growers earn very little.

## Cooperatives and new ash groves

The most concrete answer is the project "La Manna non cade dal cielo" ("Manna doesn't fall from the sky") of the Consorzio Manna Madonita, backed by the Fondazione con il Sud. It brings the main producers together in 4 cooperatives, each of which has put land back under ash (Fondazioni magazine, September 2024).

The project brought a laboratory and machinery to produce pure manna and cosmetics, plus farm equipment so the cooperatives can work on their own. Members deliver their manna to the consortium, which purifies and sells it.

Rosario Schicchi, professor of agricultural sciences at the University of Palermo and director of its Botanical Garden, told Il Gattopardo that without public support ash growing and manna won't survive. For him the reason goes beyond the product: the ash trees are part of the biodiversity of these mountains.

## Seeing the work up close

The easiest chance is the [Sagra della Manna in Pollina](https://www.lemadonie.it/en/events/sagra-della-manna-pollina/). In 2026, from 10 to 13 August at 10 am, you could book a visit to the ash groves where the trunks are still cut. During the festival free samples of manna in cannolo were handed out, and the Museo della Manna was open from 9 am to 1 pm and from 4 pm to 9 pm (MadoniePress, 5 August 2026).

If you stay a few days, in Castelbuono you can walk in the [Bosco di Castelbuono](https://www.lemadonie.it/en/trails/bosco-di-castelbuono-giant-hollies/) and sleep in town: places to stay are in [where to stay in Castelbuono](https://www.lemadonie.it/en/villages/castelbuono/where-to-stay/). The growers' manna also ends up in local sweets, starting with those of [Fiasconaro in Piazza Margherita](https://www.lemadonie.it/en/where-to-eat/fiasconaro-castelbuono/): you'll find them in the guide to [Madonie desserts](https://www.lemadonie.it/en/food/madonie-desserts/).

## Frequently asked questions

### Who are the 'ntaccaluòri?

They are the manna harvesters of the Madonie. In summer they cut the bark of ash trees with the mannaruòlu, a curved billhook, and collect the sap that sets in the sun. The Slow Food Presidium says there are still quite a few of them, but most are elderly, and only two live mainly off manna.

### How many people harvest manna today?

Sources give different figures. In 2021 Giulio Gelardi told Balarm there were about 40 producers in the whole world, almost all in the Madonie and most of them over eighty. In 2025 the young grower Emilio Appiano told Linkiesta that about thirty keepers of the craft are left.

### When do they work in the ash groves?

From July to August, according to the Slow Food Presidium. Emilio Appiano told Il Gattopardo that the work starts at the end of the night and goes on into the heat, every day for at least two months, with about sixty shallow cuts a day on the trunk.

### What is the thread technique?

It is a way to get clean manna straight from the tree. A thread is hung under the cut, and the sap runs down the thread instead of the bark. Giulio Gelardi, who developed it in Pollina, explains that the manna stays pure, dries faster and is less exposed to rain.

### How much manna does an ash tree give?

Little, and unevenly. According to Linkiesta, a tree gives on average 200 grams a year in the best seasons, up to one kilo. The Slow Food Presidium reckons that a harvester today brings home about 90 kilos a year, against 300 in the 1950s.

### Why is there less and less manna?

Because of the weather and the people. A shower, too much humidity or too much heat stop the flow, Linkiesta writes. Harvesters are few and old, and according to Il Gattopardo the producing ash groves are old and should be renewed. Of the 250 hectares left, only 20-30% of the trees still produce.

### Can I watch the manna harvest?

The easiest way is the Sagra della Manna in Pollina, in mid-August. In 2026 the ash groves could be visited on booking from 10 to 13 August at 10 am, and the village's Museo della Manna was open from 9 am to 1 pm and from 4 pm to 9 pm.

## Sources

- [Fondazione Slow Food, Presidio Manna delle Madonie](https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/it/presidi-slow-food/manna-delle-madonie/)
- [Linkiesta, "Nelle Madonie c'è sempre meno manna" (3 May 2025)](https://www.linkiesta.it/2025/05/ce-sempre-meno-manna/)
- [Balarm, interview with Giulio Gelardi, "l'ultimo degli intaccatori" (10 January 2021)](https://www.balarm.it/news/ha-salvato-la-produzione-della-manna-e-ne-e-il-custode-sulle-madonie-l-ultimo-degli-intaccatori-122058)
- [Il Gattopardo, "La manna non scende dal cielo", December 2024 (Fondazione con il Sud press review)](https://fondazioneconilsud.it/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Gattopardo-9-gennaio-2025.pdf)
- [Fondazioni, September 2024, the project "La Manna non cade dal cielo" (Fondazione con il Sud press review)](https://fondazioneconilsud.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Fondazioni-settembre-2024-2.pdf)
- [MadoniePress, the 2026 Sagra della Manna in Pollina (5 August 2026)](https://www.madoniepress.it/2026/08/05/pollina-celebra-la-manna-il-13-agosto-torna-la-storica-sagra-con-degustazioni-folklore-e-notte-bianca/)

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Markdown version of the page https://www.lemadonie.it/en/magazine/castelbuono-manna-ash-tree-crystal/, from Le Madonie (lemadonie.it), an independent guide to the Madonie. Facts with source and date of check.