Organization of lipid reserves in cotyledons of primed and aged sunflower seeds

Imbibing sunflower (Helianthus annuus L., cv. Briosol) seeds at water potentials between –2 MPa and –5 MPa leads to faster (priming) or slower (accelerated ageing) germination depending on the temperature and duration of treatment. Mobilization of food reserves may be associated with the changes in seed vigor. To study this, morphological, biochemical and phase properties of lipid, the major food reserve in sunflower, were compared in freshly harvested (i.e., control), primed and aged sunflower cotyledons using electron microscopy, biochemical analyses and differential scanning calorimetry, respectively. Lipid bodies became smaller and more dispersed throughout the cytoplasm during priming and ageing. Despite ultrastructural changes, there were few measured changes in biochemistry of the neutral lipid component; lipid content, proportion of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids and level of free fatty acids were unchanged in primed and slightly aged seeds, with only severely aged seeds showing a net decrease in polyunsaturated fatty acids and an increase in free fatty acids. Subtle changes in the calorimetric behavior of lipids within sunflower cotyledons were observed. Sunflower lipids exhibited polymorphic crystalline and amorphous solid phases when cooled to <–100°C, but priming decreased the rate of crystallization in vivo and ageing increased the rate of crystallization, but decreased percentage crystallinity. The observed changes in thermal behavior in vivo are consistent with losses and gains, respectively, of interacting non-lipid moieties in the triacylglycerol matrix.