Protected Geographical Indication (I.G.P.) food status
Pasquale Potenza, who emigrated to Argentina as a youth, may have remembered whispered tales about the amorous side effects of the sweet onion of his native Calabria. After years of research, the biochemist at the University of Buenos Aires discovered that the Tropea onion contains nitric oxide, the active ingredient used in the little blue pill to regulate blood vessels and sustain erections.
"I'm not exactly sure what the implications may be," said the researcher, whose last name happens to mean "potency" in Italian. "It will take complex studies to see whether it could be used on a pharmaceutical level -- the connection is there though."
zoomata Apr.13.04
