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Morphological variation in seed characters includes differences in seed size and shape. Seed shape is an important trait in plant identification and classification. In addition it has agronomic importance because it reflects genetic, physiological, and ecological components and affects yield, quality, and market price. The use of digital technologies, together with development of quantification and modeling methods, allows a better description of seed shape. Image processing systems are used in the automatic determination of seed size and shape, becoming a basic tool in the study of diversity. Seed shape is determined by a variety of indexes (circularity, roundness, and J index). The comparison of the seed images to a geometrical figure (circle, cardioid, ellipse, ellipsoid, etc.) provides a precise quantification of shape. The methods of shape quantification based on these models are useful for an accurate description allowing to compare between genotypes or along developmental phases as well as to establish the level of variation in different sets of seeds.

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High-performance liquid chromatography was used to determine carotenoids (beta-carotene, lutein, neoxanthin, and violaxanthin) and tocopherols of leaves, buds, and flowers of Tunisian Capparis spinosa. This plant shows strong resistance to hard environmental conditions, and it is one of the most commonly found aromatics in the Mediterranean kitchen. In this study, the means of the total carotenoids were 3452.5 +/- 1639.4, 1002 +/- 518.5, and 342.7 +/- 187.9 microg/g fresh weight (FW) in leaves, buds, and flowers, respectively. Lutein accounts for the high content. Violaxanthin provided the lowest portion of the total carotenoids. The principal form of tocopherol detected in leaves was alpha-tocopherol (20.19 +/- 10 mg/100 g FW). In buds and flowers, there were both alpha- (49.12 +/- 17.48 and 28.68 +/- 9.13 mg/100 g FW, respectively) and gamma-tocopherol (48.13 +/- 15.08 and 27.8 +/- 16.01 mg/100 g FW, respectively). The combined content of pro-vitamin A and vitamin E in capers encourages researchers to more explore and find developments for this plant.

Capparis spinosa is widely distributed all over the Mediterranean Basin. Fatty acid composition of oils of C. spinosa from seven Tunisian regions was determined. The oil content of the seeds ranged from 23.25 to 33.64% on a dry weight basis. Unsaturated fatty acids accounted for the majority of the fatty acids. Oleic acid with 45.82% was the main fatty acid followed by linoleic acid (25.37%), palmitic acid (15.93%), palmitoleic acid (4.55%) and stearic acid (4.06%). C. spinosa seed oil also contained a high level of tocopherols (ca. 628 mg/100 g). g-Tocopherol was the major homologue (ca. 92%), followed by a-tocopherol (ca. 4%) and d-tocopherol (ca. 2%). Seed oil of C. spinosa contained high amounts of carotenoids (ca. 457 mg/100 g). The contents of b-carotene (as pro-vitamin A) were also very significant (ca. 375 mg/100 g). Results encourage the use of this plant species as a new source of vegetable oil for nutritional, industrial, and pharmaceutical applications.

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Morphological description of seeds is a required step for analysis of biodiversity in natural populations and may give clues to adaptive strategies in species evolution. A cardioid is the curve described by a point of one circumference rolling around another circumference of equal radius. Models based on adjustment of seed shape with cardioid curves have been described for Arabidopsis thaliana and the model legumes Lotus japonicus and Medicago truncatula. In this work the model is applied to analyze seed morphology in populations of two subspecies of Capparis spinosa growing in Tunisia. Adjustment of seed images to cardioid curves, followed by statistical analysis of similarity in the complete images as well as in each of four quadrants, allows an accurate description of seed shape. The results show differences in morphology between subspecies. Seeds of subsp. rupestris present higher diversity of shape than seeds of subsp. spinosa. This may indicate primitiveness of C. subsp. rupestris seeds, associated with nonspecialization. The results are discussed in relation to the ecological strategies of both subspecies in their evolution.K Ke ey y w wo or rd ds s: : Adaptation, biodiversity, cardioid curve, ecology, morphometry, Capparis spinosa. ACTA BIOLOGICA CRACOVIENSIA Series Botanica 55