Making Use of Sustainable Local Plant Genetic Resources: Would Consumers Support the Recovery of a Traditional Purple Carrot?

Abstract

Local plant genetic resources are of vital importance for the resilience of the agroecosystems, especially under conditions of global climate change. The diversification of production using these resources is postulated as an alternative for the development of rural areas with non-optimal farming conditions and/or disadvantaged by depopulation. However, in order to sustainably utilize local genetic resources, their use has also to provide products accepted by consumers. The aim of this study was to evaluate consumer acceptance of a local purple carrot that is a Spanish landrace at risk of genetic erosion from Teruel, a province in the Aragón region seriously affected by depopulation and extreme weather conditions, to contribute to its sustainable recovery. Consumer preferences for carrots with different characteristics (color, price, variety, and production system) were studied, and their willingness to pay (WTP) for the local purple carrots was assessed. Data from a survey conducted in this Spanish region was used. We identified two segments of consumers with different willingness to pay, hedonic liking, and intention to purchase the purple local carrots. These traditional purple carrots would be accepted by the segment of consumers more willing to pay for and more likely to purchase these carrots. The traditional purple carrots should be promoted, emphasizing that they are produced by a local landrace whose purple color is due to anthocyanic pigments with known antioxidant properties.

Contribution to the Ethnobotanical Knowledge of Serre Calabre (Southern Italy)

“…This work involved a few municipalities in the study area: deepening the work could be the beginning of a larger research in this territory which is still very little investigated from this point of view. In agreement with Gracia et al [65], the diversification of production using such resources could be a socio-economically sustainable activity in areas with non-optimal farming conditions by contributing to population stabilization in rural areas.…”

Wild Plants Used as Herbs and Spices in Italy: An Ethnobotanical Review

“…According to Pieroni et al [ 14 ], the potential of wild plants should be further explored for the possible economic opportunities that could be generated for local gatherers and communities. The diversification of production using such resources could be a socio-economically sustainable activity in areas with non-optimal farming conditions by contributing to population stabilization in rural areas [ 94 ]. Herbs are, therefore, also an opportunity to develop a healthy diet that combines gastronomy, health and sustainability.…”

Crossmodal correspondences between basic tastes and visual design features: A narrative historical review

“…Overall, it would appear that the theory of the internalization of environmental statistics could account for some of the crossmodal correspondences between taste and visual features reasonably well, particularly between taste and color, that have been documented to date. This claim could be further strengthened if a shift in the color-taste mappings can be found and attributed to the changes in the environment over time, such as the widespread application of artificial food dyes ( Spence, 2021b ) and the development of agricultural products (e.g., selective breeding and domestication of crops; Gracia et al, 2020 ). On the other hand, because shape features are less likely to generate statistical relationships when appearing with foods, the statistical account is certainly less capable of explaining the taste associations of curvilinearity than of color.…”