The Susceptibility of Soybean Seed Lipids to Artificially-Enhanced Atmospheric Oxidation

Priestley, D. A., Werner, B. G. and Leopold, A. C. 1985. Thesusceptibility of soybean seed lipids to artificially-enhancedatmospheric oxidation.—J. exp. Bot. 36: 1653–1659. As a model system for studying possible oxidation changes insoybeans with ageing, whole soybean seeds, ground soybeans orsoybean oil were exposed to a heated oxygen atmosphere (105°C)for periods of up to 6 d. With the exception of polar lipidsof the embryonic axis, seed lipids were highly resistant tooxidative degradation provided seed structure was maintainedintact; however, the non-lipid fraction of the seed rapidlybecame discoloured. Polar lipids of ground seed material, andboth total and polar lipids in isolated oil, were less stableto oxidation than similar lipids within whole seeds. These resultsindicate that seed organization protects the lipid componentsfrom atmospheric autoxidation. Key words: Soybean, seed lipids, oxidation