Open Access

ARTICLE

Storage lipids and proteins of Euterpe edulis seeds

VÍCTOR PANZA^1,2, DARIO PIGHIN³, VERÓNICA LÁINEZ², RICARDO J. POLLERO⁴, SARA MALDONADO^1,2,*

1. Instituto de Recursos Biológicos CIRN, INTA. Las Cabañas y Los Reseros s/n. B1712WAA, Hurlingham. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, C1428EHA, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
3. Instituto de Tecnología de los Alimentos (INTA). Las Cabañas y los Reseros. CC 77 B1708WAB, Morón, Argentina.
4. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de La Plata. CONICET-UNLP. Calles 60 y 120, La Plata, Argentina.
* Address correspondence to: Sara Maldonado. Depto. de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. UBA. Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria. C1428EHA, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA. E-mail: saram@bg.fcen.uba.ar

BIOCELL 2009, 33(2), 99-106. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2009.33.099

Abstract

Comparative studies on fatty acid and protein composition of the endosperm and embryo of palmito (Euterpe edulis Martius) were conducted using gas-liquid chromatography and sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. On a dry weight basis, the embryo contained extremely lower amounts of lipids and proteins than did the endosperm, which was associated with the scarce lipid and protein bodies previously reported in axis and cotyledon. The fatty acid composition also exhibited differences between both tissues: (I) the fatty acid diversity was greater in embryo than in endosperm; (II) embryo and endosperm contained predominantly linoleic, palmitic, oleic and stearic acids even though the relative values were different for each tissue. As compared to other palm species, the higher fatty acid unsaturation in Euterpe edulis seed could be involved in the previously reported short longevity and recalcitrant behavior during storage. Proteins of both tissues were heterogeneous in molecular mass. Some proteins were tissue-specific, but other were common, among them a highly glycosylated protein which migrated at about 55 kDa. We hypothesize that the latter, also reported in all previously studied palm species, is one of the proteins characterizing the Arecaceae family.

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