GERMINATION OF OILY SEEDS 37 



a seedling in which the pkimule was just showing contained 

 30 per cent of fatty acid. 



The presence of the acid may be demonstrated in such 

 germinating seeds, but the same statement does not hold for 

 glycerine, probably because it is translocated with great rapidity, 

 and is quickly transformed. There can, however, be no doubt 

 that this substance is formed because if, for example, castor 

 oil be subjected in vitro to the action of lipase obtained from 

 Ricimis seeds, the presence of glycerine may be detected with 

 ease. 



With regard to other changes which the original fat under- 

 goes during germination, Schmidt found that the iodine number 

 of the fatty acids and unsaturated oils decreased during ger- 

 mination, which of course indicates that saturation of the acid 

 radicles takes place. This is controverted by von Furth,* who 

 found no change in the iodine value. The observations of 

 Schmidt, however, have been corroborated by Miller, who 

 found that in Helianthus annuus the iodine value decreased 

 from 136-2 for the seed to 67-4 for a seedling with the plumule 

 just elongating. 



Von Fiirth also found that during germination the acetyl 

 value decreased from 87 '5 in the resting seed to 50*5 in the 

 young seedling, from which he concluded that the normal fatty 

 acid does not change into hydroxy fatty acid. Also, he could 

 find no proof of the fatty acid breaking down into simpler 

 substances as indicated by the molecular weight remaining 

 practically constant. 



This hydrolysis is the first action, but it is not the final one 

 since carbohydrates quickly appear during the germination of 

 such seeds. Since the days of de Saussure, who was the first 

 to draw attention to this phenomenon, much evidence relative 

 to this carbohydrate formation has accumulated. 



In the case of Rici?ms le Clerc du Sablon found that the 

 resting seed contained 69 per cent of oil and 4 per cent of 

 sugar, but in a seedling 1 1 cm. high the oil had fallen to 1 1 per 

 cent and the sugar had risen to 14 per cent. It was further 

 found that the sugar contained in the resting seed has a slight 

 excess of non-reducing sugar, which increased more rapidly 



* Von Fiirth : " Hofm. Beitr. Chem. Phys. Path.," 1904, 4. 



