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35-737: In a nearly rainless desert, the lomas owe their existence to the moist dense fog and mist which rolls in from the Pacific. The fog is called garúa in Peru and Camanchaca in Chile. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, the coastal desert of Peru and the Atacama Desert of Chile feature a rare desert climate , that is abbreviated "BWn" on climate maps with the n denoting frequent fog. Temperatures are mild year round and precipitation

70-514: A fog collection system of polyolefin netting to capture the water droplets in the fog to produce running water for villages in these otherwise desert areas. The Camanchacas Project installed 50 large fog-collecting nets on a mountain ridge, which captured some 2% of the water in the fog. In 2005, another installation of panels of 3 square metres (32 sq ft) produced 5 litres (1.1 imp gal; 1.3 US gal) per square meter per day. In Peru, as part of an effort to preserve

105-537: A guar gum solution of the same concentration, but more viscous than a solution of locust bean gum . Furthermore, tara gum shows an intermediate acid stability between locust bean gum and guar gum. It resists the depolymerisation effect of organic acids down to a pH of 3.5. This gum is also stable to high-temperature treatment, up to 145 °C in a continuous process plant. Blends of tara with modified and unmodified starches can be produced which have enhanced stabilization and emulsification properties, and these are used in

140-460: A total desert area of 291,000 square kilometres (112,000 sq mi). Teetering on a narrow edge of survival, the lomas are sensitive to climate change. Radio-carbon dating has indicated that, prior to 3800 BCE, the Peruvian desert north of Lima (12° S latitude) received more seasonal precipitation and was mostly vegetated. Lomas—isolated fog oases—existed only south of Lima. This is evidenced by

175-401: Is an unapproved food additive. On July 19, 2022, the food company Daily Harvest had identified tara flour, which is derived from the seeds of Tara spinosa , as the ingredient that had sickened hundreds of its customers. A handful of lawsuits have been filed against the company. The chemical compound hypothesized to be responsible is baikiain . Tara gum, produced from a different part of

210-463: Is caused by El Niño . For example, in March 2015, the desert in Chile received about 25 millimetres (0.98 in) in one day which caused flooding. In a phenomenon called the flowering desert , after the rare rains the desert briefly blooms with flowers. Normally, with the nearly non-existent precipitation, the coastal desert is almost devoid of vegetation except in lomas and along rivers which originate in

245-519: Is cultivated as a source of tannins based on a galloylated quinic acid structure. This chemical structure has been confirmed also by LC–MS . It is also grown as an ornamental plant because of its large colorful flowers and pods. Its common names include spiny holdback, tara , taya , and algarroba tanino (Peru). Tara spinosa is placed in the family Fabaceae , subfamily Caesalpinioideae , and tribe Caesalpinieae . Tara spinosa typically grows 2–5 m (6.6–16.4 ft) tall; its bark

280-549: Is dark gray with scattered prickles and hairy twigs. Leaves are alternate, evergreen, lacking stipules , bipinnate , and lacking petiolar and rachis glands. Leaves consist of three to ten pairs of primary leaflets under 8 cm (3.1 in) in length, and five to seven pairs of subsessile elliptic secondary leaflets, each about 1.5–4 cm (0.6–2 in) long. Inflorescences are 15–20 cm (5.9–7.9 in) long terminal racemes , many flowered and covered in tiny hairs. Flowers are yellow to orange with 6- to 7-mm petals ;

315-423: Is nearly non-existent, averaging 3 millimetres (0.12 in) to 13 millimetres (0.51 in) per year in most locations. Many years have no precipitation at all. The Atacama Desert of Chile is commonly known as the driest non-polar place in the world. Arica, Chile , in the middle portion of the coastal desert, went a record 173 months without measurable precipitation in the early 20th century. Occasional rainfall

350-409: Is potentially toxic, and tara gum, commonly used as a thickener and stabilizer. Tara flour is produced from the germ (embryo) of the tara seed, while gum is produced from the seed's endosperm . On May 15, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the use of tara flour, having determined tara flour in human food does not meet the generally recognized as safe (or GRAS) standard and

385-563: Is the largest and the best preserved lomas forest in Peru, covering more than 42,000 hectares (100,000 acres) with some 350 plant species, including 44 endemics. The National University of Saint Augustine in Arequipa has partnered with Peruvian conservation groups and the Nature Conservancy to preserve and restore the environment of the lomas. Included in the project is the installation of fog-catching nets to capture water, thereby helping

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420-460: Is typical of the coasts of Peru and northern Chile. The omnipresent garúa clouds and mist in winter in Lima led the nineteenth-century American author, Herman Melville to call Lima “the strangest, saddest city thou cans’t see.” (Twenty-first century Lima, however, has a flourishing tourist trade and has been described as having a "hidden loveliness.") The average annual precipitation for most of

455-543: The Andes and cross the desert to the Pacific. The moisture for the vegetation in the lomas comes from fog which rolls in from the nearby Pacific Ocean and embraces mountains which come down near the sea. The cold waters of the Humboldt Current run offshore. During the austral winter thick stratus clouds, the garúa, creep inland to an altitude of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) most days from May until November. During this season

490-607: The Chiribaya culture benefited from this unlikely agriculture in a rainless land. Later, during the 17th century, Spanish colonists pastured 200 mules in these lomas. As late as 1951, a few tara trees still lived although the lomas were by then nearly devoid of all vegetation and population. In Peru, the Reserva Nacional de Lachay (National Preserve of Lachay) (11°22′S) protects 5,070 hectares (12,500 acres) 105 kilometres (65 miles) north of Lima. The Lomas de Atiquipa (15°48′S)

525-413: The 1700-mile north-south desert coast is less than 10 millimetres (0.39 in) and some areas may go without rain for many years. Only the moisture condensed from the garùa clouds -- plus occasional El Niño events -- enables islands of vegetation to be present in the lomas dotted up and down the Peruvian and Chilean coasts. Except for the lomas and river valleys draining the higher and more humid Andes

560-704: The 18th century, the city of Copiapó was known as San Francisco de la Selva (Saint Francis of the Forest) for its extensive forests. As the branches of trees and bushes trap the fog and create more moisture for other plants, their absence reduces the viability for all the plant life in the lomas. In many locations the lomas were over-exploited for agriculture and grazing. One example is that, in prehistoric times, 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of Ilo , Peru, far from any other source of water, four lomas-fed springs permitted about 85 hectares (210 acres) of irrigated agriculture plus grazing for llamas and alpacas. Hundreds of people of

595-777: The 80 families who live within the area to expand agriculture, primarily of olives . Similar methods have been used for the conservation of lomas in Lima . In Chile the Pan de Azúcar (26°09′S) and Llanos de Challe (28°10′) National Parks and the La Chimba National Reserve (23°32′S, 70°21′W) preserve lomas. The richest diversity of species of lomas flora in Chile, however, is near the village of Paposo (25°00′S). The fog oasis near Paposo occur at elevations of 200 metres (660 ft) to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) with altitudes from 400 metres (1,300 ft) to 700 metres (2,300 ft) having

630-505: The Humboldt Current and the garúa it produces is substantial. Lima, Peru near sea level and located at 12° south latitude is in the tropics and would in most climatic situations have average temperatures of 26 °C (79 °F) or higher in every month of the year. By contrast, Lima has monthly average temperatures that range from 23 °C (73 °F) (January through March) in the warmest months and 17 °C (63 °F) in

665-499: The Humboldt create an inversion , the air near the ocean surface being cooler than the air above, contrary to most climatic situations. The trade winds blow the cool air and fog westward over coastal areas, where the fog coalesces into drizzle and mist, the garúa . Garúa is a dense fog that does not produce rain . The water droplets in the fog measure between 1 and 40 microns across, too fine to form rain. The impact of

700-613: The Middle East, and Africa and has become naturalized in California. T. spinosa grows in the nearly rainless lomas or fog oases of the Peruvian coastal desert. Generally resistant to most pathogens and pests, it grows at elevations between 0 and 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above sea level, and tolerates dry climates and poor soils, including those high in sand and rocks. To propagate, seeds must be scarified (treated to break physical dormancy), and young plants should be transplanted to

735-454: The coastal desert is almost completely barren of vegetation. The garúa extends only a few kilometers inland, dissipating over land especially where it coalesces against mountain slopes at elevations of 300 metres (980 ft) to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft), the altitudes at which the vegetated lomas are found. In a water-scarce desert land, water is being captured from the moisture-laden garúa . In Chile, in 1985, scientists devised

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770-522: The coolest months of July through September, the months in which the garúa is most frequent. The impact on sunshine is even more substantial. Annually, only 34 percent of daylight hours in Lima have sunshine. On average, July and August receive less than one hour a day of sunshine. Lima receives only 1,230 hours of sunshine annually. By contrast, London , notoriously cloudy and foggy, gets 1,573 hours of sunshine annually and New York City receives 2,535 hours of sunshine annually. The climate of Lima

805-417: The environment make it unique. The cold waters of the Humboldt Current are responsible for both the coastal deserts and the garúa along the coasts of Peru and Chile from latitudes 5° to 30° South, a north-south distance of 2,800 kilometres (1,700 miles). Between those latitudes, the Humboldt Current hugs the coastline bringing mild temperatures and high humidity to a hyper-arid region. The cold waters of

840-407: The field at 40 cm (16 in) in height; trees begin to produce after 4–5 years. Mature pods are usually harvested by hand and typically sun dried before processing. If well irrigated, trees can continue to produce for another 80 years, though their highest production is between 15 and 65 years of age. Tara spinosa pods are an excellent source of tannins (tara tannins) most commonly used in

875-522: The fragile ecosystem of the garúa -watered lomas, conservation groups have installed fog-catching nets in the Atiquipa District to capture water and help the 80 families who live within the area to expand agriculture, primarily of olives . Tara tree Tara spinosa , commonly known as tara ( Quechua ), also known as Peruvian carob or spiny holdback , is a small leguminous tree or thorny shrub native to Peru . T. spinosa

910-409: The gum is a galactomannan polymer similar to the main components of guar and locust bean gums that are used widely in the food industry. The ratio of mannose to galactose in tara gum is 3:1. Tara gum has been deemed safe for human consumption as a food additive. Tara gum is used as a thickening agent and stabilizer in a number of food applications. A solution of tara gum is less viscous than

945-522: The lowest sepal is boat-shaped with many long marginal teeth; stamens are yellow, irregular in length and barely protruding. The fruit is a flat, oblong indehiscent pod , about 6–12 cm (2.4–4.7 in) long and 2.5 cm (0.98 in) wide, containing four to seven round black seeds, which redden when mature. Tara spinosa is native to Peru and can be found growing throughout northern, western, and southern South America, from Venezuela to Argentina. It has been introduced in drier parts of Asia,

980-474: The manufacture of automotive and furniture leathers. This growing industry is developing around their production in Peru. Some producers have their own plantations to guarantee constant quality. Tara tannin derivatives are being proposed as antifouling against marine organisms that can grow on ship hulls. Those tannins are of the hydrolysable type . Gallic acid is the main constituent of tara tannins (53%) and can be easily isolated by alkaline hydrolysis of

1015-549: The most abundant growth of vegetation. The Paposo area has been declared a Zone of Ecological Protection by the Government of Chile. Gar%C3%BAa Garúa is a Spanish word meaning drizzle or mist . Although used in other contexts in the Spanish-speaking world, garúa most importantly refers to the moist cold fog that blankets the coasts of Peru , southern Ecuador , and northern Chile , especially during

1050-456: The plant extract. Quinic acid is also a constituent of the tara tannins. Its tannins are colourless or light making them suitable a premordant in the dyeing of cotton and other cellulose fibres. The tree can also be a source of lumber and firewood, and as a live fence. The seeds can be used to produce black dye, while dark blue dye can be obtained from the roots. Major food additives derived from T. spinosa include tara flour, which

1085-452: The southern hemisphere winter. In Chile, a similar fog is called camanchaca . Garúa brings mild temperatures and high humidity to a tropical coastal desert. It also provides moisture from fog and mist to a nearly-rainless region and permits the existence of vegetated fog oases, called lomas . While fog and drizzle are common in many coastal areas around the world, the prevalence and persistence of garúa and its impact on climate and

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1120-491: The tara seed, remains safe to consume. According to the FDA, tara gum has a well established safety profile and is "distinct from tara flour". Tara gum is a white or beige, nearly odorless powder that is produced by separating and grinding the endosperm of T. spinosa seeds. Tara gum consists of a linear main chain of (1-4)-β-D-mannopyranose units attached by (1–6) linkages with α-D-galactopyranose units. The major component of

1155-482: The tropics. Lima's average humidity is 84 percent, more than double the average humidity in most deserts. Lomas comprise less than two percent of the coastal desert areas of Chile and Peru. Peru has more than 40 lomas totaling in area less than 2,000 square kilometres (770 sq mi) out of a total desert area of 144,000 square kilometres (56,000 sq mi). Chile has almost 50 lomas with an area of less than 5,000 square kilometres (1,900 sq mi) out of

1190-533: The uniformity of plant species in present-day lomas north of Lima while lomas south of Lima have more endemic plant species, indicating geographic isolation. The cause of the climatic change was probably the duration and strength of El Niño events. Lomas have been impacted, and in some cases destroyed, by centuries of unregulated grazing, wood-cutting, and mining. In Chile, the Huasco (28°26′ S) and Copiapó (27°22′ S) river valleys once supported dense stands of trees. In

1225-504: The vegetation in the lomas is lush and green and many species of flowers bloom. In the austral summer from December to April, the weather is mostly sunny and the lomas become dryer. The moisturizing impact of the fog is increased by the mild temperatures throughout the year and high average humidity of the coastal deserts. For example, Lima, Peru , located at 12°S latitude has average monthly temperatures ranging from 17 °C (63 °F) to 23 °C (73 °F), very cool for locations in

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