Assessing environmental sustainability of apple ancient varieties in Northern Italy

The aim of this research is to conduct a life cycle assessment (LCA) that compares the production of a representative ancient apple cultivar with Golden Delicious production, in order to evaluate significant differences in the environmental impacts. In particular, the objectives of this research are (I) to qualify and quantify the main environmental aspects of ancient apple varieties in Piedmont in order to establish parameters for the sustainability of that product; (II) to evaluate any significant differences with the environmental impact of the Golden Delicious supply chain and (III) to highlight where such differences are located along the supply chain.