Abstract
Genetic diversity and variability between populations is essential for the long-term survival of plant species as well as their adaptation to different habitats. The Capparis spinosa L. has two subspecies in Spain, spinosa with stipules thorny and rupestris without them. In Spain, the subspecies used for its cultivation is spinosa, which is difficult to manipulate due to its stipules thorny. The capers, unripe fruits and tender shoots are used as food. The caper plant is a rich source of phenolic compounds, due to that many flavonoids have been found in different parts of caper plant and in high quantities, which indicates that it is a good source of functional compounds both as food and for nutraceutical applications. There are no published works on the differences in biochemical and functional compounds of both subspecies, so in this work 32 varieties have been genetically analyzed to know their subspecies. Afterwards, various biochemical and functional parameters have been analyzed to find out if they present differences between both subspecies. From the results of the biochemical and functional parameters studied, there are no difference between the spinosa and rupestis subspecies, in all the parameters studied, except chlorophylls. There was more difference between the results of the subspecies spinosa among them, than with the subspecies rupestris. For all this, it can be concluded that the rupestris subspecies that does not present stipules thorniness can be cultivated, instead of the spinosa subspecies that does present them, without losing functional or nutritional characteristics of the caper buds.
Highlights
Genetic diversity and variability between populations is essential for the long-term survival of plant species (Wang et al 2016), as well as their adaptation to different habitats
The caper plant is a rich source of phenolic compounds, due to that many flavonoids have been found in different parts of capers and in high quantities, which indicates that it is a good source of functional compounds both as food and for nutraceutical applications (Grimalt et al 2018, 2019; Wodyło et al 2019)
These results are similar with obtained through ISSR by Gristina et al (2014) in Italy and Al-Safadi et al (2014) in Syria, lower than those obtained by Tamboli et al (2018) in India and Rhimi et al (2019) in Tunisia, while they are clearly superior to those obtained with AFLP by Inocencio et al (2005) in Spain
Summary
Genetic diversity and variability between populations is essential for the long-term survival of plant species (Wang et al 2016), as well as their adaptation to different habitats. The Capparis spinosa L. is a common perennial winter-deciduous shrub with a summer cycle, and it has a creeping growth It grows in North Africa, Europe, West Asia, Afghanistan and Australia (Inocencio et al 2006; Fici 2014; Grimalt et al 2019). In Spain, the most valuable parts of Capparis spinosa used as food are the fresh aerial parts, especially the flower buds (capers), unripe fruits and young shoots. These are pickled or kept in brine and used as an appetizer or as a complement to meat, salads, pasta, and other foods (Argentieri et al 2012; Grimalt et al 2019). The caper plant is a rich source of phenolic compounds, due to that many flavonoids have been found in different parts of capers and in high quantities, which indicates that it is a good source of functional compounds both as food and for nutraceutical applications (Grimalt et al 2018, 2019; Wodyło et al 2019)
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