alt=Capparis spinosa fruit in Behbahan|thumb|Capparis spinosa fruits in [[Behbahan]]

Capparis spinosa, the caper bush, also called Flinders rose, is a perennial plant that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers.

The taxonomic status of the species is controversial and unsettled. Species within the genus Capparis are highly variable, and interspecific hybrids have been common throughout the evolutionary history of the genus. As a result, some authors have considered C. spinosa to be composed of multiple distinct species, others that the taxon is a single species with multiple varieties or subspecies, or that the taxon C. spinosa is a hybrid between C. orientalis and C. sicula.

Capparis spinosa is native to almost all the circum-Mediterranean countries, and is included in the flora of most of them, but whether it is indigenous to this region is uncertain. The family Capparaceae could have originated in the tropics and later spread to the Mediterranean basin.

The plant is best known for the edible flower buds (capers), used as a seasoning or garnish, and the fruit (caper berries), both of which are usually consumed salted or pickled. Other species of Capparis are also picked along with C. spinosa for their buds or fruits. Other parts of Capparis plants are used in the manufacture of medicines and cosmetics.

Description

thumb|Leaves and flower buds

alt=Caper Flower in Behbahan, Iran|thumb|Caper flower in [[Behbahan]]

The shrubby plant is many-branched, with alternate leaves, thick and shiny, round to ovate. The flowers are complete, sweetly fragrant, and showy, with four sepals and four white to pinkish-white petals, many long violet-coloured stamens, and a single stigma usually rising well above the stamens.

Accepted infraspecifics

Eleven subspecies and variants are accepted, according to Plants of the World Online:

  • Capparis spinosa var. aegyptia (Lam.) Boiss.
  • Capparis spinosa var. atlantica (Inocencio, D.Rivera, Obón & Alcaraz) Fici
  • Capparis spinosa var. canescens Coss.
  • Capparis spinosa subsp. cordifolia (Lam.) Fici
  • Capparis spinosa var. herbacea (Willd.) Fici
  • Capparis spinosa var. mucronifolia (Boiss.) Hedge & Lamond ex R.R.Stewart
  • Capparis spinosa var. myrtifolia (Inocencio, D.Rivera, Obón & Alcaraz) Fici
  • Capparis spinosa var. ovata (Desf.) Sm.
  • Capparis spinosa subsp. parviflora (Boiss.) Ahmadi, H.Saeidi & Mirtadz.
  • Capparis spinosa subsp. rupestris (Sm.) Nyman
  • Capparis spinosa subsp. spinosa

Capparis nummularia was formerly considered a subspecies of Capparis spinosa.

Distribution and habitat

Capparis spinosa ranges around the Mediterranean Basin, Arabian Peninsula, and portions of Western and Central Asia.

In southern Europe, it is found in southern Portugal, southern and eastern Spain (including the Balearic Islands), Mediterranean France including Corsica, Italy including Sicily and Sardinia, Malta, Croatia's Dalmatian islands, Albania, Greece and the Greek Islands, western and southern Turkey, on Cyprus, and on the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine. In Spain, it ranges from sea level up to in elevation. Israel, Syria, western Jordan, and in the southern Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is also found south of the Caucasus in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and northeastern Turkey. On the Arabian Peninsula it occurs in Oman, Yemen including Socotra, and Asir province of Saudi Arabia. In central Asia, it inhabits the mountains of central Afghanistan, the lower Karakoram range in northern Pakistan and Ladakh, and Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and eastern Uzbekistan.

In response to sudden increases in humidity, the bush forms wart-like pockmarks across the leaf surface. It quickly adjusts to the new conditions and produces unaffected leaves.

Agriculture

thumb|Flowering caper plant, soon to yield caper berries

Capers can be grown easily from fresh seeds gathered from ripe fruit and planted into a well-drained seed-raising mix. Seedlings appear in two to four weeks. Old, stored seeds enter a state of dormancy and require cold stratification to germinate. The viable embryos germinate within three to four days after partial removal of the lignified seed coats. The seed coats and the mucilage surrounding the seeds may be ecological adaptations to avoid water loss and conserve seed viability during the dry season.

Orchard establishment

Mean annual temperatures in areas under cultivation are over . A rainy spring and a hot, dry summer are considered advantageous. This drought-tolerant perennial plant is used for landscaping and reducing erosion along highways, steep rocky slopes, dunes or fragile semiarid ecosystems.

Harvest

Caper buds are usually picked in the morning. Because the youngest, smallest buds fetch the highest prices, daily picking is typical.

Culinary

thumb|upright=0.5|Pickled capers in a jar

The buds, when ready to pick, are a dark olive green and range in size from under to more than . Once the capers are picked, they are pickled in salt or a salt and vinegar solution, and drained. Intense flavour, sometimes described as being similar to black pepper or mustard, is developed as glucocapparin, a glycoside organosulfur molecule, is released from each caper bud.

Dried caper leaves are also used as a substitute for rennet in manufacturing high-quality cheese.

Polyphenols

Canned capers contain polyphenols, including the flavonoids quercetin (173 mg per 100 g) and kaempferol (131 mg per 100 g), as well as anthocyanins.

Other uses

Cosmetics

Capparis spinosa (caper) is rich in phenolics, flavonoids, and other bioactives that give it moisturizing, antioxidant, and anti‑inflammatory properties relevant to skin care. , most evidence is preclinical or early clinical, but several studies and reviews directly link caper to cosmetic and dermocosmetic applications.

History

Archaeobotanical evidence of capers has been found in the Mediterranean region and Mesopotamia as early as the Upper Paleolithic period.

Etymologically, the caper and its relatives in several European languages can be traced back to Classical Latin capparis, "caper", in turn, borrowed from the Greek κάππαρις, kápparis, whose origin (as with that of the plant) is unknown but is probably Asian. Another theory links kápparis to the name of the island of Cyprus (Κύπρος, Kýpros), where capers grow abundantly.

thumb|right|A ripe caper fruit (caper berry)

In Biblical times, the caper-berry was thought to have aphrodisiac properties. In Ecclesiastes , the Biblical Hebrew hapax aviyyonah () is frequently translated "caper-berry" and has been linked by some scholars to the Hebrew root (a-v-h, "desire") although this etymology is disputed.

The berries (abiyyonot) were eaten, as appears from their liability to tithes and the restrictions of the 'Orlah. They are carefully distinguished in the Mishnah and the Talmud from the caper leaves, alin, shoots, temarot, and the caper buds, capperisin (note the similarity "caper"isin to "caper"); all of which were eaten as seen from the blessing requirement, and declared to be the fruit of the ẓelaf or caper plant.

Talmud Bavli discusses the eating of caper sepals versus caper berries, both in the land of Israel and in Syria.

References

  • Caper factsheetNewCROP, Purdue University
  • Brian Noone (2017). Capers: From Wild Harvest to Gourmet Food. Ethelton, S. Aust.: Caperplants. . .