Research Methods

Cider producers in each country will be sampled with the objective of maximizing the diversity of the samples. Local collaborators will non-randomly select two (willing participant) producers each (when present in the country) from the following categories: 1) large commercial producers, 2) small commercial producers, 3) ethnic niche producers, 4) non-commercial producers. The first interviews within the country will be conducted as part of a training workshop. As interviews are conducted with producers, each will be asked if there are other producers in the country who are known for unusual cider products or apple varieties in order to generate potential additional interview diversity. Informed consent and interviews aimed to illicit names of apple cultivars used, cider production processes, and collection of plant samples will be consistent with Reedy et al. (2009). Young leaf samples will be collected in silica gel with voucher specimens of each apple cultivar discussed by informants. Finished cider products will be purchased and 2-50ml samples taken from these in sealable centrifuge vials. Processes of production, orchards, apple varieties, and interviews will be photographed and filmed with informant’s permission. IRB approval for this project is being provided by University of Hawaii, Committee on Human Subjects.

Forward basing of supplies: Prior to beginning the project the expendable supplies needed for use in each country will be shipped to our collaborators from the base in Honolulu with confirmation of receipt. Supplies will be for plant voucher collection, genetic samples, chemical samples, and shipping containers for forwarding samples to the U.K. Supplies that do not arrive will be reshipped and a backup container of supplies will be carried by the field workers in case there is need.

Methods workshop: In most of the countries, collaborating scholars are already studying apples, cider production, or related topics. Currently each scholar is using slightly different methods. There is not a need for research training, but there is a need for all across the region to be able to apply a set of standardized methods to data collection for mutual benefit, data sharing, and comparison. Within each country a one-day workshop/symposium will be held to provide an opportunity for participants to learn to use the standardized methods. Participants will be encouraged to: 1) conduct research using the methods, 2) write brief review articles about the ethnobotany of cider within their country, and 3) participate in new proposals being written for larger projects. The workshop will be structured to gather real data from a real setting by interviewing at least two cider makers and orchardists. Following the workshop, additional interviews and data will be collected until it is time to go to the next country. Immediate review publications from the workshop will be compiled as a special issue in Ethnobotany Research and Applications following the model used previously by McClatchey and Gollin (2005).

[Local collaborators in each country will assemble at a pre-selected site where a cider maker and orchardist have agreed to assist in the process of McClatchey and Reedy providing a training workshop on standardized ethnobotanical methods being used for data collection (McClatchey & Gollin 2005). This one-day workshop will involve practice collection of a sample data set that will be used for results in this project. After the workshop, more cider makers and orchardists will be interviewed until the target of 8 per country is achieved. From past experience two can easily be interviewed per day so that under ideal circumstances with prior arrangement, the work in each country could be completed in 1 week. However, two weeks is being allocated to allow for inevitable delays.]

Researcher support: The research team (McClatchey, Reedy, Lau, Bridges) all have full salary. McClatchey and Bridges are faculty members. Lau is a post-doctoral researcher working on this project. Reedy has a 3-year NSF graduate research fellowship to work on this project. All computer, camera, and data collection equipment and supplies needed are already in stock and ready to use. Support is needed transportation and some living expenses.

Data flow: Each week physical data will be sorted in duplicates and mailed weekly in separate packages on different days to Dr. Clifford Smith in Hereford, U.K. After the completion of the primary work, the researchers will go to Hereford, sort through the samples and send: half of the genetic samples to the USDA Plant Genetic Resources facility in Geneva, NY and half to Oxford University; half of the chemical samples will be sent to University of Hawaii and half to Tre Roma University.

The Base Station (in Honolulu) is an active site during the expedition. Drs. Lau and Bridges and students) at the Base Station provide support functions that are essential to the functioning of the field team and the timely involvement of the network of collaborators. A basic support task involves the handling of digital data. The field team will be collecting data in three digital formats; audio recordings, photographs and video. The digital files will be sent from the field to the Base Station as frequently as possible (the objective is weekly). The Base Station support team will archive these materials and then place copies of all relevant materials on a digital depository at an Internet storage site. All collaborators will have RSS feeds established so that they will be notified automatically when materials relevant to their expertise are added to the data depository.

This strategy of rapid data handling will provide for security and quality evaluation. It will also promote feedback from the collaborators to the field team so that follow-up data collections may be made. This dispersed data management system is already in place. It will be tested for handling the bandwidth requirements well before the expedition begins.

Expected Results and Products

The primary results of this specific requested project will be: 1) a network of collaborating researchers applying standardized data collection techniques, 2) a limited but widespread data sample from across the entire region, and 3) video footage about apple biodiversity across Eurasia and the process of conducting ethnobotanical interviews. The data sample will include the following elements. Each will be used for immediate analyses and as preliminary data for a larger projects. As a whole, the data will be used for production of preliminary GIS maps of distributions of cider/apple genetic, chemical, technological and linguistic diversity across southern Europe and Asia.

Samples of Apple Cultivar Names: Names learned will be added to our existing database of over 700 traditional names of cider apple cultivars. Although we expect to find that many names will be unique to each language, some will show common evidence of relationships between languages (often cognates) and therefore probable relationship between the apple trees themselves. Two kinds of patterns will be of primary interest. Patterns of obviously borrowed names that indicate probable recent movement of plants (and plant names) will be useful for helping to screen out information that is probably not ancient. Known movements/invasions of languages and plant exchanges will be used for supporting evidence. Patterns of cognate names that are not obviously recently borrowed but follow standard shifts within changing languages from the past will be used as indications of more ancient plant exchanges. Linguistic consultants will provide advice about the probable time period of common plant-cultural connections in the past. Patterns of names will be used to produce a cultivar name distribution map across the range of Southern Europe and Asia.

Descriptions of Cider Production Methods: A database and comparative flowchart of cider production methods will be generated from the interviews to illustrate both the range of variation within each area where interviews are conducted and the pattern of production that characterizes production of cider in a step-wise pattern across the areas. The steps in production and variation in these will be used in cluster correlation analysis to create hypotheses of relationships among the different production method traditions. These will be interpreted as probably representing aspects of ancient technologies as well as more recently learned and developed shared derived traits along the apple road from Asia.

Genetic Samples: Leaves of each cultivar named by informants will be collected for genetic analysis that should reveal a pattern of dispersal of plants, and indirectly people, across Europe from Asia. The analysis requires funding beyond the scope of this project but the collection of leaves will be done even without immediate funding. This work will lend independent genetic support to the cultivar name results.

Chemical/Food Analysis Samples: 50ml samples of each beverage produced by each cider maker interviewed will be labeled, entered into the database, and mailed to the lab at University of Hawaii for analysis that should reveal a pattern of chemical processing for each product (%alcohol, ethanol to methanol, tannins, pH, carbohydrate analysis, and presence of various contaminants). The analysis requires funding beyond the scope of this project but the collection of beverages will be done even without immediate funding. This work will lend independent chemical support to the cider production results.

Photographs: Photographic evidence of the project will be sorted and made available within our project web site: https://sites.google.com/site/ciderethnobotany/ The site already includes images from two years of research. The images are being made available to anyone wishing to use them for educational or research purposes. We are using them in teaching ethnobotany and research publications.

Video: We will produce a short documentary video on the history and diversity of cider apples and cider production processes. This will emphasize the biology and chemistry that is nested within the cultural contexts observed. While this may seem overly ambitious for our time and budget, we have produced many of these in the past as part of our teaching. Examples are posted on our web site: www.erajournal.org/ebotvideo/home/ Complete video archives will be maintained in the University of Hawai`i Library. These will be used for resampling of the research data. We are currently using a Sony PMW-EX1 HD Camcorder. This is a tapeless video camera operating in 1080p at 24 fps, using twin SxS video cards, each with a 32 GB, or two full hours, storage. The PMW-EX1 uses three 1/2" CMOS sensors, with a 1920x1080 pixel capability.