Nutrient reserves of Salicornia europaea seeds |
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Authors: | Franz-Arnold Austenfeld |
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Institution: | Inst. für Angewandte Botanik, Hindenburgplatz 55, D-4400 Münster, Federal Republic of Germany. |
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Abstract: | Seeds of Salicornia europaea L. were analyzed for their nutrient reserves. The content of potassium and sodium was 216 and 39 mmol (kg dry seeds)-1, respectively. Calcium and magnesium accounted for 30 and 138 mmol (kg dry seeds)-1, respectively. Whereas most of the alkali metals were water soluble, the alkaline earth metals were mostly acid soluble. The acid-soluble calcium plus magnesium corresponded well with the acid-soluble phosphate. Chloride was accumulated to a level equivalent to that of sodium. Carbonate was present at a concentration of 9 mmol (kg dry seeds)-1. Carbohydrates accounted for 93 g (kg dry seeds)-1, nearly half of which was derived from sucrose. Fructose and glucose were present only in traces. Total nitrogen was determined to be 55 g (kg dry seeds)-1, 16% of which was diethylether soluble. The remaining nitrogen was separated into 39 g (kg dry seeds)-1 ethanol-insoluble and 8 g (kg dry seeds)-1 ethanol-soluble nitrogen. About 10% of the ethanol-soluble nitrogen were derived from amino acids. Total lipid content was about 280 g (kg dry seeds)-1. The alcoholic component of the storage lipids was glycerol and the glycerides were calculated from gas chromatography to be 66% of the total lipids. About 90% of the fatty acids consisted of unsaturated acids, linoleic and oleic acid, the majority (77%) of which was linoleic acid. |
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Keywords: | Carbohydrates halophytes lipids minerals nitrogen salinity |
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