Lipids in grain tissues of oat (Avena sativa): differences in content, time of deposition, and fatty acid composition

Banas A, Debski H, Banas W, Heneen WK, Dahlqvist A, Bafor M, Gummeson PO, Marttila S, Ekman A, Carlsson AS, Stymne S

doi:10.1093/jxb/erm125

Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2007

Lipids in grain tissues of oat (Avena sativa): differences in content, time of deposition, and fatty acid composition

Banas A, Debski H, Banas W, Heneen WK, Dahlqvist A, Bafor M, Gummeson PO, Marttila S, Ekman A, Carlsson AS, Stymne S

Abstract

Oat (Avena sativa) is unusual in comparison with other cereals since there are varieties with up to 18% oil content. The lipid content and fatty acid composition in different parts of the grain during seed development were characterized in cultivars Freja (6% oil) and Matilda (10% oil), using thin-layer and gas chromatography, and light and electron microscopy. The majority of lipids (86-90%) were found in the endosperm. Ninety-five per cent of the higher oil content of cv. Matilda compared with cv. Freja was due to increased oil content of the endosperm. Up to 84% of the lipids were deposited during the first half of seed development, when seeds where still green with a milky endosperm. Microscopy studies revealed that whereas oil bodies of the embryo and scutellum still contained a discrete shape upon grain maturation, oil bodies of the endosperms fused upon maturation and formed smears of oil