Category: Uncategorized

Topical applications are also being explored for their benefits to skin

Neither American nor blue elderberry has been evaluated for their volatile aroma composition, which limits the understanding of how these subspecies may perform and be accepted by consumers in the same formats as European elderberry. Analytical assessments of the elderberries and products using the elderberries, in addition to sensory panels would be useful information for product developers and should be performed when cultivars or genotypes are being selected for cultivation and use in commercial products. Elder flowers are frequently used in beverages and food products, including but not limited to teas, syrups, lemonades, liqueurs, wines, jams/marmalades, and tonic water. They are also used for flavoring in yogurt, coated almonds, lozenges, and confectionary goods, to name a few. Furthermore, elder flower can now commonly be found in soaps, lotions, and candles, thus consumers, especially in the United States are becoming more familiar with elder flowers, which have been well-known in Europe for generations. These recent studies support the long history of use of elder flower by the Lumbee tribe in North Carolina, who use elder flower as a treatment for skin cancer by soaking flowers in witch hazel for a week then applying that to the skin. The main compound in elder flowers, like elderberries, is water, and is found in similar concentrations .Glucose, fructose,low round pots and sucrose make up the main sugars found in elder flower.While European elder flowers have a roughly equal amount of these sugars, elder flowers of the blue elderberry have a much higher level of fructose than glucose or sucrose.

However, there has only been one study to measure these compounds in elder flowers, and more studies are needed to know if this trend occurs across each of the subspecies. There is limited data on these compounds across the three subspecies of interest, such as no information on the American elderberry; thus, few comparisons can be made. Minerals and vitamins have been evaluated in European elder flowers. Minerals include calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc, and manganese. Calcium is the most concentrated mineral with an average of 2955.9 ± 272.7 µg g-1 across several wild and cultivated samples and magnesium is the next most concentrate mineral at an average of 1200.2 ± 453.6 µg g-1 . Vitamin C has only been measured in elder flower syrup, ranging from 22.47 ± 0.06 mg L-1 to 46.17 mg L-1 . Elder flowers of the European subspecies have been evaluated several times for their phenolic profile. Dominant compounds in the flavonol rutin and neochlorogenic acid. Concentrations can vary greatly, just like many of the other compounds already explored in this review. Growing and harvest conditions6 or extraction parameters can impact the final concentrations reported. Significant differences in phenolic concentrations have been found between cultivars, such that the concentration of rutin ranged from 11.6 to 42.3 mg g-1 dry weight and neochlorogenic acid ranged from 10.1 to 20.7 mg g-1 dry weight among the 16 genotypes. The coefficient of variation was greater than 10% for all of the compounds measured, including nine phenolic acids and six flavonol glycosides. American elder flowers have also been studied for their concentration of rutin and chlorogenic acid which generally align with the European elder flower profile, except that the primary phenolic acid was chlorogenic acid instead of neochlorogenic acid.

American elder flower appears to contain a different chlorogenic acid isomer than the European elder flower, which has mainly neochlorogenic acid. Furthermore, 12 cultivars were sampled for the study, which showed high variability in concentration of the two compounds measured. Rutin concentrations ranged from 4637 to 8111 mg kg-1 while chlorogenic acid concentrations ranged from 1180 to 3064 mg kg-1 , showing that key phenolic compounds can be more than double in some cultivars. The concentration of these two compounds did not appear correlated, as the correlation coefficient was only 0.018. While there have been several studies measuring the CG content in elderberries of different subspecies, the data available on elder flower CG content is limited. In fact, only one study has published data on this area to date and it focused on European elder flowers. A study comparing growing locations at multiple altitude levels to determine impact on phenolic compounds and cyanogenic glycosides found that CG concentrations in elder flowers ranged from 1.23 ug g-1 to 18.88 ug g-1 , generally increasing as the altitude increases. 6 Sambunigrin was the only CG measured and compared to the berries of the same plants in this study, elder flowers contained more CGs than elderberries. 6 Elder flowers from the American subspecies nor the blue subspecies have been analyzed for their CG content. As consumer concern for this toxic group of compounds remains high, it would increase confidence of consumers to utilize the elder flowers of these other subspecies if data was available on the CG concentrations of these flowers. Elder flowers and elder flower products have been investigated for their volatile profile.

A direct comparison is difficult to make from the syrups, which have other ingredients like sugar or lemons, to the plain flower extracts, but due to the high popularity of elder flower syrups, the results of those studies are included here as well. In studies of the European elder flower without any additional food ingredients, linalool and linalool derivates, such as -linalool pyranoxide and cis-linalool oxide, have frequently been identified as prominent.The aroma of linalool, the main aroma compound in lavender, can be described as citrus, fruity, floral, and woody. 80 The age of the flower when harvested as well as how the flowers are stored after harvest can greatly impact the volatile profile. As expected from the other data on inter-cultivar variation, the volatile profile is heavily influenced by the cultivar. 81 For example, wild elder flower had twice as much rose oxide and more linalool oxide than the other 12 cultivars. While this could be a challenge for manufacturers that use elder flower in products to have a consistent aroma from batch to batch, it also allows for more selectivity to find a cultivar that matches desired organoleptic properties in the product. American elder flowers have not yet been evaluated for their volatile profile, nor have blue elder flowers. As global warming and water scarcity issues continue to impact food systems, fire-resilient and drought-tolerant plants will become more important for supplying nutrient-rich foods . Wildfires throughout the western United States are becoming more common and more serious as seasons are hotter and drier. California has been experiencing unprecedented levels of wildfires, including over 1.9 million acres burned in 2018, over 4.2 million acres burned in 2020, and over 2.5 million acres in 2021. One native and fire-resilient plant is the blue elderberry , which grows wild throughout the western United States and has become a popular choice to grow in hedgerows. The blue elderberry is drought-tolerant, and the roots of the blue elderberry can survive fires to regrow the next season to continue providing valuable flowers and fruit, making it an ideal choice to plant in regions of California and American West often stricken by wildfires. While European and American elderberries have been studied for decades, there is currently little information on the subspecies native to the western region of North America, S. nigra ssp. cerulea ,plastic pots 30 liters known as blue elderberry due to a white-colored bloom on the exterior of the berry which makes it appear blue. In California, it grows wild in riparian ecosystems near rivers and streams 86 , but is also planted in hedgerows on farms to improve water, air, and soil quality, in addition to providing a habitat for birds, pollinators, and other beneficial insects . The plant can grow several meters tall and wide and flowers from May to August, with peak fruit ripening throughout July and August. While elderberry prefer moist soil and some hedgerows may receive some irrigation during the summer months, most are not irrigated once the hedgerow has been established, about 2-4 years . That is one of the benefits of using native and drought-tolerant plants, as they can better withstand the natural climate without excess resources. Elderberries have a long history of use by Native Americans and Europeans in foods, beverages, and herbal medicines. Research exploring links between elderberry consumption and health has increased dramatically, particularly in the past decade.

Numerous in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrate that elderberries have potent antioxidant, antibacterial, and antiviral properties. Results of two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials suggest that elderberry supplements reduce the duration and severity of cold symptoms . Roscheck et al. identified two non-anthocyanin flavonoids in elderberry extract that inhibited viral ability to infect host cells when bound. While most bio-activity of elderberries is assumed to result from the phenolic compounds like anthocyanins, the high-molecular weight fraction of concentrated elderberry juice was found to contain acidic polysaccharides that had potent effects against the human influenza virus . The health-promoting properties of elderberry have led to recent increases in its use in products such as supplements, syrups, gummies, and teas, as well as wine and jams. During the COVID-19 pandemic, elderberry supplements gained wide attention because of potential anti-viral activities; however, there is no strong clinical evidence that elderberry could be beneficial in preventing or treating COVID-19. The market for elderberries is expected to continue to increase, as the sales of herbal dietary supplements was over $11 billion in 2020, a 17.3% increase from 2019. Elderberry was the top selling herbal supplement, with sales over $275 million, as consumers became more interested with supporting their immune systems 9 . In addition to the interest in elderberry as an ingredient in functional foods, elderberry can be an excellent source of natural coloring agents for food and beverage applications due to the high content of red and purple anthocyanins . Characterization of the chemical composition, functional properties, and impact of processing on the bio-active compounds in elderberry is largely limited to S. nigra ssp. nigra and, to a lesser extent, S. nigra ssp. canadensis. S. nigra ssp. nigra is commonly referred to as the European black elderberry, which has many established cultivars, such as “Haschberg” and “Samyl”, and it has an established market. The European elderberry is the most frequently used subspecies in commercial elderberry-based products and has been extensively studied for its composition, anthocyanin stability , and health benefits in European black elderberry-based products . S. nigra ssp. canadensis is commonly referred to as the American elderberry, a subspecies native to the eastern and central regions of North America. There are several cultivars of the American elderberry, including “Johns” and “Bob Gordon”. The American elderberry, which is utilized in small-batch products, has also been evaluated for its composition and health-promoting properties. The acreage grown of this subspecies has been increasing rapidly and there is a goal to grow over 2,000 acres by 2025, according to the Midwest Elderberry Cooperative. Currently, there is no information on the chemical composition of the fruit of the blue elderberry . With the recent increase in demand for elderberry, blue elderberry grown in hedgerows may be an additional and valuable source of bio-active phenolics and natural colorants. The objective of this study was to determine the moisture content, soluble solids, pH, titratable acidity, and establish the anthocyanin and phenolic profiles of blue elderberries grown in Northern California to support the use of this robust, native crop in commercial products. Five grams of frozen berries were mixed with 25 mL of in a conical tube, which was then homogenized for 1 min at 7,000 rpm . The mixture was stored at 4 °C overnight, then in the morning, centrifuged at 4,000 rpm for 7 min. The supernatant was used directly for analysis. Three pooled samples were made for each hedgerow, each consisting of even amounts of berries from three distinct shrubs. Each pooled sample was extracted once to give 3 biological replicates, and each extract was run in duplicate . Averages concentrations for compounds were determined across the hedgerow in mg per 100 g FW. The concentration of phenolic compounds in blue elderberry followed the method by Giardello et al. with some modifications. Briefly, samples were analyzed via reversed-phase liquid chromatography on an Agilent 1200 with a diode array detector and fluorescence detector .

The Qavail conceptualizes the maximum limit to water supply from the soil-root-stem system

The understanding of processes affecting plant water availability has fundamental and applied implications. Recent studies have recognized the key role of roots in promoting acclimation to different types of stress; mainly through preferential growth and control of hydraulic properties that regulate transpiration . A better understanding of root response is, therefore, key for understanding water fluxes through the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. Accordingly, here we examine the effect of root growth and plant hydraulic conductance on water availability for canopy transpiration of young walnut trees under different levels of water stress.The study was conducted from April 2015 to July 2015, using nine 8-month-old potted walnut trees cv. Chandler, grafted onto Paradox root stock in an experimental greenhouse at the University of California, Davis. Plants were grown in 0.02 m3 pots filled with a 1:3 mixture of a fine sand and organic compost. As the experiment was conducted over a short period and the plants were young, the size of the pots was considered suitable. Pots were kept covered with aluminum foil to avoid soil evaporation and their transparent walls were covered with plastic sheets that were black inside and white outside, to protect roots from light exposure. All pots were maintained at field capacity for at least a week before the beginning of each 10-days period experiment. Replicates were monitored over time due to the careful tracking of soil-plant properties and limited availability of leaf psychrometers and high precision weighing scales for all individuals. Hence,macetas 30l the experiment was replicated using three different plants per treatment monitored over 10- days in three different time periods , for a total of nine receiving one of the irrigation treatments and three control plants.

While temporal replications integrate the effect of different insolation and temperature conditions in the greenhouse at each 10-day sampling event, we expect to observe consistent shifts between T100, T75, T50 throughout the experiment.Stem water potential was measured on expanded terminal leaflets located close to the trunk, every 15 min and averaged to hourly values, with a psychrometer/hygrometer , model PSY-1 . The leaflet equipped with the psychrometer was fully covered with an insulation capsule limiting temperature fluctuations . As the monitored leaf did not transpire, the measurement was representative of stem rather than leaf water potential. An independent measurement of stem water potential was carried out weekly on fully expanded leaflets with a pressure chamber . Prior to this destructive measurement, leaflets were enclosed in foil-laminate bags for at least 10 min . Plant transpiration rate was quantified by automatic weighing of pots on a high precision weighing scale every ten minutes, averaged to hourly values. Draining water was collected daily in plastic reservoirs attached laterally to the bottom of the pots by flexible rubber tubing. Hence, the weight of leaching water did not affect the weighing scale reading until its collection. Both the added irrigation water and collected leachate were weighed and removed from the water balance in order to evaluate the weight loss due to TR . Bulk soil water potential at soil-root interface was monitored by one tensiometer per pot, placed at approximately the midpoint of the root system at 0.2 m depth, and recording data every ten minutes to generate average hourly values. Its porous ceramic cup was connected through a water-filled PVC tube and a smaller acrylic glass tube equipped with a pressure transducer. A rubber cap on top of the tensiometer ensured its air tightness.

All plant and soil measurements were continuously recorded with a data logger located inside the greenhouse. Hourly average air temperature and relative humidity were obtained in an automatic micrometeorological station placed inside the greenhouse. The reference evapotranspiration was obtained by use of an atmometer Model E , that gives one pulse at each 0.254 mm of evaporated water . Hourly vapor pressure  deficit was estimated by the difference between saturated and actual vapor pressure. Saturated vapor pressure was calculated using air temperature based on the Tetens formula . Actual vapor pressure was obtained by saturated vapor pressure multiplied by fractional humidity. We used an empirical water stress indicator based on plant relative transpiration . For each plant, the potential daily transpiration was estimated as a product of the plant standard daily transpiration by the ratio of the actual daily transpiration to TD* of the unstressed plant . The water stress indicator was simply calculated as the ratio of TD to plant potential daily transpiration. An undisturbed leaf was harvested and water extracted using a custom-made cryogenic distillation system suitable for isotopic analysis, adapted from previous studies of this kind . Briefly, the leaves were transferred to individually cut 1.27 cm diameter pyrex tubes where the leaf material was held in place by stainless steel wool. After attachment to a vacuum manifold, leaves were frozen in liquid nitrogen and air evacuated to 100 mTorr. The tube was then flame sealed to preserve the vacuum, and subjected to gravity assisted cryogenic distillation, the top of the tube at 110° C, bottom at −20° C. After distillation, the tube was removed and ice water isolated by flame sealing the tube again to separate water and leaf material. Leaf material was separated and ground to a powder using liquid nitrogen in a mortar and pestle. 3 mg samples were submitted for δ13C determination at the UC Davis Stable Isotope Facility by continuous flow GC-IRMS on a PDZ Europa ANCA-GSL elemental analyzer interfaced to a PDZ Europa 20- 20 isotope ratio mass spectrometer . The water samples were transferred to 2 mL vials and was analyzed for δD by equilibration with water vapor and added hydrogen gas, assisted by a platinum black powder catalyst. Next, CO2 was added to the system and equilibrated with water vapor for δ18O analysis.

Water analysis was performed at the University of Miami by using multi-flow system connected to an Isoprime mass spectrometer . To standardize isotopic data, values are reported in del notation with reference standards as in the equation below. The visible root length was monitored weekly over five weeks from the beginning of each 10-days period experiment by combining root mapping on the transparent walls of the pots and observation of inner root length with minirhizotrons , which provide a nondestructive method for repeated root observations . In addition, weekly root length observations started five weeks before each 10-days period experiment in order to follow the Rl pattern through time. Minirhizotrons consisted of transparent acrylic tubes with an inner diameter of 50 mm, and wall thickness of 3 mm. We used one tube per pot, installed at an angle of 45°, and sealed with silicon. Analyses of Rl were performed weekly with a BTC minirhizotron digital image capture system , located inside the minirhizotron tube. Each observation consisted of systematically taking pictures at one-centimeter intervals from the top to the bottom of the pot in three dimensions, totaling approximately 90 pictures per tube. The Rootfly software was used to analyze root length semi-automatically.Analysis of covariance of linear regressions between hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios of leaf water showed significant differences in intercept between treatments , but no differences in slope . All experimental pots were covered to suppress soil evaporation, therefore, differences between treatment regression lines relative to the source water line are attributed to changes in leaf transpiration. Differences in intercept tracked expected declines in transpiration rates under drought stress and are consistent with changes in iWUE inferred from carbon isotope ratios . There was no difference between T100 and T75 with respect to iWUE or d-excess, indicating physiological acclimation and maintenance of a steady balance between photosynthesis and transpiration. However, iWUE and dexcess of T50 trees was significantly different from the others, indicating low stomatal conductance .Snapshots of root growth over time are shown in Fig. 6. In general, under well-watered conditions, new roots started to grow before the old roots died and were more frequently observed . Large variability was recorded for relative external and internal patterns of root growth at each sampling event. However, the cumulative total and living root growth detected by the minirhizotron showed significant changes with greater growth observed in the well-watered treatment . Crucially,maceta 25 litros root growth patterns were proportionally and positively related with d-excess . This indicates the existence of a fundamental trade off between root growth and iWUE , by which canopy transpiration and root development can be estimated based on changes in leaf stable isotope ratios. It is important to note, however, that differences between T100 and T75 with respect to either root growth or iWUE were not statistically significant. Therefore, acclimation is possible at that level and high physiological stress seems to be required to study costs and benefits of such a trade off with respect to changes in water supply.Our observations confirmed the decreasing TR as a response of midday depressions of leaf water potential , showing the minimum ψstem in T50 between −1.0 MPa and −2.0 MPa, which was strongly and positively correlated with ψsoil, explaining low TR under deficit irrigation . Indeed, stomata are expected to be completely closed in walnut trees when leaf water potential reaches −1.6 MPa and similar ψstem values and associated stomatal closure have been previously reported in stressed walnut trees , as transpiration rates decrease to prevent leaf dehydration under moderate to high Tair and VPD .

Otherwise, the strong and positive correlation between TR and evaporative demand was noticed for well-watered plants , as observed in previous studies , followed by strong and moderate water limitation . Multiple lines of isotopic evidence integrate the effect of physiological responses to treatments during the entire experiment and corroborate a significant decline in TR under deficit irrigation. Leaf water regressions show significant deviation from source water with reducing water loss by transpiration earlier under water stress has also been recognized in peanut and pearl millet . Here, our results showed an early and rapid decline in transpiration followed by stabilization of water loss in stressed trees, which is consistent with the fraction of “transpirable” soil water general mechanism of declining TR and with the classic descriptions of the plant water stress function . The nonlinear decrease of TR as a function of ψsoil and ψstem can be seen as a water conservative strategy to prevent water loss and leaf dehydration long before being limited by water supply from the soil-root system . Such a strategy lowers the risk of hydraulic failure and increases the iWUE. Considering that the major part of the walnut orchards are located in areas periodically affected by drought and due to its high water requirement over seasons, this observed trend and its further understanding has a key role in the identification and use of relevant physiological traits in plant breeding programs, allowing greater water-use efficiency under deficit conditions. The observed values of Kh fall in the typical range reported for young tree species and annual crops . Our results highlight the decrease of Kh under moderate and strong water limitation . Water  deficit is one of the most important factors affecting Kh , and its decline in response to decreasing stem water potential under water deficit has been reported in walnut at ψstem approaching −1.8 MPa due to cavitation . However, we observed reduced Kh long before reaching such negative stem water potentials . As our Kh only includes hydraulic resistances between the stem and the soil-root interface, its reduction might have been fostered by a combination of poor soil-root contact under lower soil water content and altered root permeability that were described in other species.It turns out that in the T75 treatment, a reduction of stomatal opening due to water limitation occurred long before transpiration was limited by Qavail. Functionally, such stomatal regulation might play the role of extra security margin against hydraulic failure and translate into a so-called water saving behavior at longer term . The results also suggest that the supply-demand view in plant transpiration modeling is inappropriate for walnut, so that more complex models are needed . Despite the significant effect of water deficit on various plant properties, root growth responses over time did not correlate with any other recorded variable, and could did thus not explain changes of Kh. However, our observations suggest that healthy roots rapidly shifted to decaying roots with the continuity of water stress, which means a reduction of root activity and less capacity to take up water .

Recent years witnessed substantial growth in sales of US organic food

The annual growth rate of organic food sales between 1990 and 2017 reached a double digit ranged from 12% to 21%, far outpaced the growth of products conventionally produced . In 2106, the total sales of organic products had grown to $47 billion .The fast-expanding US organic market was partially attributed to the strong demand due to an increasing number of consumers’ preference for buying and consuming organic foods. The niche market had embraced as high as 69% of US consumers and they were willing to pay the premium prices for organic products .The driving forces behind include growing concerns about health, valuing food safety, environmental shepherd, and animal welfare. The conversion to organic foods was particularly significant in consumers’ favor for organic produce .While the solid demand for organic products unfolded in both domestic and international food markets, the supply side revealed a relatively stagnant growth within the United States.

Overall, organic production has not kept pace with the growth in demand, organic farms are struggling, and organic handlers are challenged for procuring enough. At the very upstream of supply chain, organic farming remains a tiny share, accounting for about 0.55% of the total US farm land .The shortage of supply along the organic chain has been much in evidence for years in the United States. When it comes to the major barriers, studies point to low yields, higher costs,hydroponic channel unstable product quality, the cost of certification, price premiums, imports, limited organic inputs, and the lopsided competitions . Some others render explanations with focuses on psychological and sociological costs , on uncertain legislative environment , on security of marketing channels, on input constraints , and the perceptions of farmers . While the varieties of investigations did cover a broad area, the results are mixed. The lack of consensus regarding the influential factors and their impact on organic conversion calls for more quantitative analyses based on good survey data, and some studies based on econometric models step forward to quantitatively address the choice of farmers on the conversion to organic production and reached conclusions that related organic farming to the age and gender of operators, farming acreages, levels of education, and urban-raised farmers, which did not fully resonate with some early analyses, but provided a more informative vision.

Despite the progress, a closer look at the limited studies finds a problem of small sample size, which is linked to problematic estimates of impacts in spite of their significance in statistics. This is a well-recognized issue to many, but has a tendency to repeat itself due to the predicament in organizing interviews and collecting data. Consequently, conflicts remain even in this category of studies. The situation merits more studies with the well-designed survey instruments and relatively large samples to ensure more accurate and consistent estimates of the impacts of influential factors in the small-farmers’ decision-making on the conversion to organic production.This study has its focus on the choice of small farmers in the conversion to organic production and is aimed to identify the factors of the influence and validat etheir impacts on farmers’ decision on the conversion to organic production.Based on a large survey data in the Southern region of the United States,the authors examined farmer’s attitude, perception, farms characteristics, features of the local community, social demographic factors, and so forth. The results supplemented some conclusions of early studies and offered a deeper understanding of choices of farmers in the conversion to organic farming in the United States. A broad survey and econometric modeling featured this study make the analysis ready to the empirical application and bring about the important implications for understanding the complex organic conversion process and for making workable and effective polices to support the small farms in the United States. The data used in this study came from a broad interview with small farmers in Southern region of USA in 2014.

The results of analysis of income-inequality revealed existence of income inequality

They analysed their data using conventional qualitative content analysis and they found that female-headed households faced many challenges that could become a big threat or an opportunity.A study was conducted to investigate the nature and determinants of income inequality in mountain areas using the case of Uluguru Mountains in Tanzania. Specifically, the study used the cross-sectional research design, income percentile shares, Gini coefficient and Lorenz curves, as well as, the coefficient of variation , to pinpoint the nature of income inequality in the study area using both pooled and disaggregated data. The determinants of income inequality were investigated using the step by step multiple linear regression model. At the 50 percentile, the mean incomes for disaggregated analysis were the highest for farmers with farmland located far from homestead, followed by those of farmers who accessed extension services during the past two years and farmers who were members of community-based financial institutions.

The mean incomes were the lowest for female-headed households, followed by farmers who did not access extension services as well as farmers with farmland located close to homestead. The farmlands located far from homestead were mostly found along the footsteps of the mountains or lowland areas where landholdings were relatively larger allowing for more intensification and crop revenues than the farmlands located in the upper gradients. Membership to community-based financial institutions had the most equalizing effect on income. Unexpectedly however, income inequality amongst farmers who accessed extension services was higher than that of their counterpart farmers who did not access the services. We attribute this to variations in personal household characteristics , and economic characteristics . Overall, crop production was the main source of income in the agroforestry systems of the study area, followed by timber products. The contribution of income from non-farm income generating activities was the lowest but these sources constituted a major income-inequality increasing component in the pooled sample. However, the results of disaggregated analysis showed that “non-farm sources” were decreasing income-inequality for farmers with farmlands located close to homestead, for female-headed households, for farmers who did not access extension services, and for farmers who were members of community-based financial institutions.

This implies that diversification of income sources is an important strategy for reducing income inequality in mountain areas. Accordingly, policies and initiatives that aim to promote diversification of livelihoods are more likely to reduce income inequality in these areas and are therefore recommended. The values of coefficients in our step by step multiple linear regression model suggested that household assets, size of farmland, and age of household head positively influenced household income and household size negatively influenced household income. Our results also suggest that, gender disparity remains one of the key issues to be addressed, and it should be taken into account in formulating future policies, especially those aiming to reduce inequality among populations in mountain areas and thus, improving living standards and well-being of smallholder farmers in these areas. In addition to promoting livelihood diversification, we therefore recommend tailor-made training and farm financing mechanism to help the less resource endowed farmers, including the female-headed households in mountain areas to raise their economic portfolios and social status.This paper is based on a postgraduate research conducted under the Department of Forest and Environmental Economics of the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania.

The author would therefore wish to extend his sincere gratitude to Ms. Willickister R. Kadigi for allowing her raw data to be used for analysis in this paper, to the former and current heads of the Department of Forest and Environmental Economics at SUA, Prof. Jumanne Abdallah and Dr. Greyson Z. Nyamoga respectively, as well as the other academic staff in the Department for their enormous academic support. My sincere acknowledgements are also due to Mr. Raymond R. Kilenga, the Programme Officer of the Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund; Ms. Bernadetha Chille, the Principle Forest Officer of the Uluguru Forest Nature Reserve; the respondents and village/hamlet leaders in the study area for their hands of support as well as excellent cooperation and inputs during data collection.

Home gardens allow all family members to be involved in some form or another

The 2007 national census reported a total population of 140,080 of whom 70,967 were men and 69,113 were women; 12,615 or 9.01% of its population were urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants are Muslim, with 98.29% and the remaining are follower of Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. A Reconnaissance survey of the study area was conducted on October 2016 to see whether the area is suitable to meet the objectives stated during that period, overall information on the study area was obtained and representative sampling site were identified by consulting the elders and the residents of the town. The town was divided in to three representative sampling sites for data collection was based on the presence of traditional home garden practices. House holders in shaping and rented houses were purposively excluded since they do not have space to cultivate home garden plants. Therefore only households who have their own compounds and have access to and control over gardens plants were considered for study.

After the domain of the households to be considered for the study is demarcated as stated above sampling frame was made based on the study aims and available budget. According to , the site of the sample depends on available fund,time and other reasons and not necessarily the total population. Hence a total of a 180 households were randomly selected to determine the frequency of home gardens and to identify those types the list of all households that fell in the domain were received from the town residences and workers after which the total number of those households divided by a sample size to determine sampling intervals for each sample site during the random selection. For data collection and analysis 60 home gardens were preferentially selected from houses as pointed out by 11. When recording indigenous knowledge held by certain social groups the choice of key informants for the study was done through available sampling. Accordingly a total of 16 persons which are believed to be knowledgeable persons between the ages of were selected from different sites .Home gardens observations were made using observation checklist having columns of recording homegarden direction, plant diversity, and other important parameters and by laying quadrants in each homegarden.

Semi structured interview was made with systematically selected key informants and with home garden owners in each site during ethno botanical data collection.Questions were used during data collection included local name of the gardens species and purpose of the home gardens grown plants management’s practices. The importance of these home gardens for in-situ conservation of plants diversity and others data related to environmental change indicators. The key informants were selected based on the number of years they live in the area and the states of their homegarden and dependency. They were encouraged to discuss the cultural and ecological knowledge , to identify the plants with their use including the functions of the plants and parts used.A market survey was conducted to record the variety and amounts of food and other home garden plant products produced and supplied to the local market. Plants that have market values in Kombolcha market were identified through observation on the market survey, and interview by interacting with producers, seller, and buyer by using the starter question.Following Ethnobotanical data collection, descriptive statistical methods such as densities, frequencies, relative densities, Shannon and wiener index for species diversity and Sorensen’s index of similarities were used to analyze the data collected in the sites. Vegetation data collection carried out according to Whittaker 1993 principle.

According to the observation made out of 180 household 128 practiced home gardening in case of spatial arrangement of the homegardens 60 gardens were found in the back yard of their houses where as 18 were side gardens in some cases the gardens found on both front and side or side and back sides Table 1. Distinct variations in site diversity and composition were encountered increasingly with increasingly in holding site. As the site of home gardens increase, as diversity of plant species increases. Home gardens on the study area are composed of trees, shrubs, herbs, and climbing plants in different strata. They consist of trees approximately 10 – 15 m on the upper strata, fruit crops 1 m to 10 m middle strata and herbaceous plants up to 1 m from the ground strata.Local peoples have developed a general home garden structure with considerable diversity and flexibility that facilitates production of the major livelihood necessities. They have managed to select crops that are co-adapted and that give multiple benefits. Home garden are found surrounding the home of the owner where he/she gets daily requirement of fruit, vegetables, fodder, medicinal plants and some plants with cultural values. According to the information during semi structured interview of homegarden owners of home gardens in the study area most of them grow vegetables during the rainy season of the year and also in the time of water scarcity byfetching water and watering home garden cultivated plants at least twice a week, as it was mentioned by some of the owners of home gardens continuous production of plants for the house hold benefits, maintains the ecological system and makes the gardens sustainable.

Planting shrubs near the homegarden in erosion prone areas were management’s practices done by owners of home gardens in the study area. Home gardens were near house hold or further away 2 – 4 minutes walking distance with living houses in some study sites to get more cultivable land for home gardening and cope up with shortage of land. Home gardens could be observed with open areas, fenced or semi-fenced. Live fences with trees and shrubs to protect home garden species from predators were more frequently observed activity as management’s practices.It allows for greater participation by female members. According to , link between the local communities and plant resource is essential for conservation and as a part of biodiversity conservation.Homegardens are typically populated by a wide Varity of plants, varying from small herbs total trees. From this study 78 species which are under 35 families were recorded from 18 homegardens surveyed . The representative families and number of species under each family were found families like Solonaceae, and Rutaceae ranks top of the list 6 species each followed by Fabaceae and Lamiaceae consistes of 5 specieseach and Asteraceae, Poaceae, Rosaceae and Brassicaceae represented by 4 species each.