ABSTRACT
The distinctive flavor and aroma of pickled caper buds is comprised of hundreds of compounds whose volatility allows these compounds to travel through the air, constituting an olfactory “air space” around the plant itself (Figure 10.1). In some cases, the movement of these molecules may extend over many miles, reaching out directly to pollinating insects or hummingbirds and, in other cases, to mammals with other means of helping the plants to propagate by eating their fruits and excreting their seeds. The complexity of this volatile segment of the Capparis chemistry correlates with the great complexity of the Capparis flavor and delicate bouquet.
