Indian Journal of Agricultural Biochemistry
Year : 2006, Volume : 19, Issue : 1
First page : ( 15) Last page : ( 18)
Print ISSN : 0970-6399.

Metabolic Changes in Fast and Slow Germinating Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Seeds

Sandhu S, Sharma S*, Munshi S K

Department of Biochemistry and Chemistry, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004, India.

*E-mail: suchetasharma_pau@yahoo.com, skmpau@rediffmail.com

Abstract

The depletion of dry matter and lipid content in the sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) cotyledons was more in fast germinating (FG - embryo emerged within 24 hrs.) in comparison to slow germinating (SG - embryo emerged at 4^th day after sowing - DAS) seeds besides displaying higher values in physical parameters in the former case. However, the lipid content displayed slower decrease in FG embryonic axis in comparison to its SG counterpart. There was enhanced accumulation of starch during early phase of germination (1 to 6 DAS) followed by faster decrease in starch content to accumulate total soluble sugars at later stages (6 to 10 DAS) in FG as compared to SG cotyledons and embryonic axis. The activity of acid invertase was higher in FG than SG cotyledons while it was reverse in embryonic axis to accumulate reducing sugars in SG. The activities of α- and β-amylase were higher in FG cotyledons and embryonic axis in comparison to that in SG. The data suggested that FG seeds filled with higher storage lipids might be due to their location at peripheral whorls of sunflower head and that contributed to enhanced rate of germination in comparison to SG seeds possibly located in central whorls of sunflower head.

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Key words

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) seeds, germination, cotyledon, embryonic axis, lipids, carbohydrates, enzymic assays.

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