Starch depletion in germinating wheat,wrinkled-seeded peas and senescing tobacco leaves

The residual starches of germinating wheat and barley grains show similar structural changes. Germinating wheat grains produce malto-oligosaccharides and dextrins. The starch of wrinkled-seeded peas showed some structural changes during germination, but the starch from senescing tobacco leaves showed none. Neither peas nor tobacco produced malto-oligosaccharides or dextrins at any stage. Wrinkled-seeded peas showed some differences to smooth-seeded peas in enzyme content, and starch was probably degraded by phosphorylase initially with α-amylase acting after 3 days. In senescing tobacco leaves the only significant enzyme activities were α-amylase and maltase. Wheat closely resembled barley in showing amylolytic breakdown.