Biotreatment efficiency, hydrolytic potential and bacterial community dynamics in an immobilized cell bioreactor treating caper processing wastewater under highly saline conditions.

Although caper processing wastewaters (CPW) are characterized by high organic content and salt concentration, no attempt has been made to treat these effluents. In this study, an immobilized cell bioreactor efficiently treated CPW even at hypersaline conditions (100 g/L salinity). Nitrogen was mainly assimilated during biotreatment, as nitrification was inhibited at elevated salinities. The hydrolytic potential was assessed by determining glucanase, xylanase, glucosidase, lipase and protease activities, which were negatively affected above 20 g/L salinity as the consequence of the inhibition of non-halotolerant microbiota. Succession of non-halotolerant taxa by the slightly halotolerant bacteria Defluviimonas, Amaricoccus, Arenibacter, Formosa and Muricauda, and then by the moderately/extremely halotolerant genera Halomonas, Roseovarius and Idiomarina occurred over salinity increase. Diversity indices were reduced during transition from moderately saline to hypersaline conditions. A distinct network was formed at hypersaline conditions, consisting of the halotolerant genera Halomonas, Idiomarina, Saliterribacillus and Gracilibacillus.

Genotypic variation effect on quality determination of caper products collected in North-Central Morocco / Efecto de la variación genotípica sobre la determinación de la calidad de los productos de alcaparras recolectados en el centro-norte de Marruecos

The caper plant (Capparis spinosa L., Capparaceae) from Morocco is described differently, and shows a very variable morphology. In this work, two provenances of caper plant, spontaneous and cultivated, from the North-Central Morocco, are characterized on the basis of morphological and productive criteria. Quantitative and qualitative parameters reveal significant differences between the two origins. The cultivated provenance corresponds to C. spinosa subsp. spinosa, whereas the spontaneous origin is mainly composed of this subspecies and secondarily C. orientalis. Small capers are abundant in the two origins, but their aesthetic quality is more observed in the cultivated one. Caper berries of spontaneous provenance display a longer peduncle and gynophore and those of cultivated provenance are more numerous and thicker. The spontaneous caper genotypes produce capers and caper berries over a longer period and generate less income for the local population.

La alcaparra (Capparis spinosa L., Capparaceae) de Marruecos se describe de manera diferente y presenta una morfología muy variable. En este trabajo se caracterizan dos procedencias de alcaparras, espontáneas y cultivadas, del centro-norte de Marruecos, en base a criterios morfológicos y productivos. Los parámetros cuantitativos y cualitativos revelan diferencias significativas entre los dos orígenes. La procedencia cultivada corresponde a C. spinosa subsp. spinosa, mientras que el origen espontáneo está compuesto principalmente por esta subespecie y secundariamente C. orientalis. Las alcaparras pequeñas son abundantes en los dos orígenes, pero su calidad estética se observa más en el cultivado. Las alcaparras de procedencia espontánea presentan un pedúnculo y un ginóforo más largos y las de procedencia cultivada son más numerosas y más gruesas. Los genotipos de alcaparras espontáneas producen alcaparras y bayas de alcaparras durante un período más largo y generan menos ingresos para la población local.