Except for the export of timber, which the Saracens of Africa were very interested in due to their natural scarcity of forests, the real wealth of the Salerno hinterland consisted solely of agricultural products, and in this Salerno certainly had an extra gear compared to Amalfi (which could not count on a vast, flourishing and productive territory like that of Salerno). In the 9th century promiscuous cultivations were often practiced, alongside fruit trees - fig, apple, almond, pomegranate, cedar - to the vine. The latter, together with wheat, was characterized by being the prevailing crop in the Salerno area for the early medieval centuries, despite the considerable use of labor and money necessary for its care: evidently, a production so massive that it certainly exceeded local needs, it guaranteed a return of capital with the presumable export, especially of wine, to Arab countries. Wheat was not the only cereal to be planted in the ground, but was often accompanied by millet, barley and rye. It is possible to find a substantial abundance of arboreal plants, often spontaneously grown: oaks, walnuts, hazelnuts and especially chestnuts occur frequently. nothing else is found even in the Amalfi documentation before the middle of the 13th century: which is why it is conceivable that the product will be requested externally, addressed primarily to the Maghreb and Tunisian markets.

An alternative that Salerno has certainly made use of over the centuries was that of stocking up on the precious artifacts for sale in the Constantine-Cypolitan markets in the nearest Byzantine provinces of southern Italy: not only in Amalfi or Naples, but also in the Greek cities of Calabria and Puglia. it was possible to arrive and haggle - with greater probability from the end of the 9th century onwards - without having to resort to large naval fleets.

The commodity sector of fine fabrics that were used to adorn the churches also found a conspicuous endowment of articles in the Arab markets. Certainly it is unthinkable that the ecclesiastical authorities turned directly to the Saracen merchants for the negotiation of "sacred" merchandise: it is to be believed in a central role of a "Christian" port such as Salerno or in a mediation of the always active Amalfi merchants , although it is precisely between the 11th and 12th centuries, as we shall see, that the first certain presences of Salerno merchants are recorded in the city of Fustat (Cairo). The silk drapes used for decorative purposes, which in the southern Italian sources are often referred to as "Arab curtain" or "African silk cercitoria", often recur in the documents of the Codex Cavense in the form of "African silk cloths" and "Sindones´siriache or African ". In the field of textile products, the Arabs were distinguished by a large production of raw silk, which was then hardly worked entirely by the Arabs; rather it was sold in Constantinople, where it then went on to make finished products. In the end, a vicious circle was created among Muslim suppliers, Byzantine manufacturers. western traders and clergy.

When the offer of silk fabrics that served as altar vestments became wider, the old wooden or tin vestments in churches began to be replaced with others of precious material, increasing the demand more and more. For this kind of items, of limited size but characterized by high economic value, the Amalfi merchants could act as "couriers" and resell in Italy what they had bought in the eastern ports: on the other hand the limited pier of Amalfi did not allow to host large quantities of bulky goods, so it is likely that the trade of the Campanian dukedom was directed above all towards sacred objects or precious fabrics.