Morphology and chemical composition of Tunisian caper seeds: variability and population profiling

Abstract

Caper, as a spontaneous plant, has a large natural distribution in the Mediterranean Sea basin. It is an interesting crop with an economic importance; especially the species Capparis spinosa. The morphology of seeds and their composition in lipid and protein were studied in 15 wild Tunisian caper populations: 9 populations represented the subspecies C. spinosa subsp. spinosa (thorny caper) and 6 populations represented the subspecies C. spinosa subsp. rupestris (inerm caper). Results show that seeds of C. spinosa are especially attractive because they can be grown to produce oil (ca. 30%) and protein (26%). Principal component analysis (PCA) did not show a geographic separation. A subspecies segregation between C. spinosa subsp. rupestris (as a homogeneous group) and C. spinosa subsp. spinosa (as a heterogeneous group) was clearly detected.

Key words: Caper (Cappains spinosa), morphology; lipids, proteins, principal component analysis (PCA).