Water Uptake and Germination of Caper (Capparis spinosa L.) Seeds

María Laura Foschi,Mariano Juan,Núria Pascual-Seva,Bernardo Pascual

doi:10.3390/agronomy10060838

María Laura Foschi, Mariano Juan + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10060838

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Abstract

Caper is a perennial deciduous sub-shrub that grows in almost all circum-Mediterranean countries. The specialized literature presents three possible dormancy types that can cause low germination of caper seeds: Physiological dormancy (PD), physical dormancy (PY), and combinational dormancy (PY + PD). We conducted three experiments to analyze the imbibition, viability, and germination of seeds of different ages, provenances, and the level of deterioration of the seed cover. None of the commercialized lots of standard seeds tested exceeded 6% germination, nor 35% viability, while the owned seeds reached 90% in both parameters, indicating that all viable seeds germinated. The seed moisture content along the soaking period followed the first two phases of the typical triphasic model of water uptake in seed germination: The imbibition and lag phases (phase I and II of germination, respectively). Seed hydration began through the hilar region. The fact that all viable owned seeds germinated, together with their moisture content being lower than that of standard seeds, indicated that caper seeds do not have a water-impermeable coat sensu stricto, i.e., they do not show PY; nevertheless, the need to use gibberellic acid to obtain high germination percentages, demonstrated the presence of PD.

Highlights

Caper (Capparis spinosa L.) is a perennial deciduous sub-shrub that grows in almost all circum-Mediterranean countries
Viability and germination tests were performed with seeds of standard category [26] from four lots of different ages: 0.5, 2, 4, and 5 years, corresponding to three different enterprises, all of them within the period guaranteed by the producer
35% (corresponding with the lowest value to 2-year old seeds (p ≤ 0.05)) in seeds with viable tissues. These results are in line with those obtained by [33], who reported, for a commercialized seed lot of standard category, a viability of 19.5% considering H, and 29.3% considering H + WV

Summary

Introduction

Caper (Capparis spinosa L.) is a perennial deciduous sub-shrub that grows in almost all circum-Mediterranean countries. It is woody and reaches up to 1 m high, with up to 3 m long branches and deep roots. Given archaeological evidence, that it was already consumed 18,000 years ago in Ancient Egypt [1]. It is mainly cultivated for the floral buds, which are called capers, their fruits, and, to a lesser extent, their vegetative shoots are consumed. Fruits, and shoots are usually consumed pickled. The flowers have a high ornamental value, caper plants are included in gardening, in xeriscape

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