Abstract
Oil bodies were removed from mature sunflower through wet grinding followed by filtration then centrifugation and recovered as the buoyant fraction. Washing this fraction with buffer (water-washed oil bodies, WWOB) or 9 M urea (urea-washed oil bodies, UWOB) resulted in the removal of extraneous proteins. SDS-PAGE of the proteins still associated with the oil body fraction after washing indicated that this effect was particularly dramatic with urea washing. Thirty-eight percent of the total seed tocopherol was recovered in WWOB after only one cycle of oil body recovery. The total phenolic content (TPC) of differentially washed sunflower seed oil bodies was used as a marker for the nonspecific association of phenolic compounds to oil bodies. This value decreased with increased removal of proteins from oil bodies, whereas the converse was true for tocopherol values, which increased from 214 mg total tocopherol kg−1 WWOB [dry wt basis (dwb)] to 392 mg total tocopherol kg−1 UWOB (dwb). The ratio of the four tocopherol isomers remained constant in the seed and oil body preparations (α:β:γ:δ approximately 94∶5∶0.5∶0.5). This work provides evidence that an intrinsic population of tocopherol molecules exists in the oil bodies of mature sunflower seeds.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Huang, A.H.C., Oil Bodies and Oleosins in Seeds, Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. 43:177–200 (1992).
Peng, C.C., I.P. Lin, C.K. Lin, and J.T.C. Tzen, Size and Stability of Reconstituted Sesame Oil Bodies, Biotechnol. Progr. 19:1623–1626 (2003).
Munne-Bosch, S., New Insights into the Function of Tocopherols in Plants, Planta 218:323–326 (2004).
Munne-Bosch, S., and L. Alegre, The Function of Tocopherols and Tocotrienols in Plants, Crit. Rev. Plant Sci. 21:31–57 (2002).
Sattler, S.E., E.B. Cahoon, S.J. Coughlan, and D. DellaPenna, Characterization of Tocopherol Cyclases from Higher Plants and Cyanobacteria. Evolutionary Implications for Tocopherol Synthesis and Function, Plant Physiol. 132:2184–2239 (2003).
Komoda, M., S. Matsushi, and I. Harada, Intracellular Distribution of Tocopherol in Soybean Cotyledons, Cereal Chem. 45:581–588 (1968).
Yamauchi, R., and S. Matsushita, Quantitative Changes in Tocopherols and Their Intracellular Distribution in Cotyledons Accompanying with Soybean Germination, J. Agr. Chem. Soc. Jpn. 50:525–529 (1976).
Lacey, D.J., N. Wellner, F. Beaudoin, J.A. Napier, and P.R. Shewry, Secondary Structure of Oleosins in Oil Bodies Isolated from Seeds of Safflower (Carthanus tinctorius L.) and Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), Biochem. J. 334:469–477 (1998).
Tzen, J.T.C., C.C. Peng, D.J. Cheng, E.C.F. Chen, and J.M.H. Chiu, A New Method for Seed Oil Body Purification and Examination of Oil Body Integrity Following Germination, J. Biochem. 121:762–768 (1997).
Murphy, D.J., and I. Cummins, Seed Oil-Bodies—Isolation, Composition and Role of Oil-Body Apolipoproteins, Phytochemistry 28:2063–2069 (1989).
Smith, P.K., Measurement of Protein Using Bicinchoninic Acid, Anal. Biochem. 150:76–85 (1985).
Bryngelsson, S., B. Mannerstedt-Fogelfors, A. Kamal-Eldin, R. Andersson, and L.H. Dimberg, Lipids and Antioxidants in Groats and Hulls of Swedish Oats (Avena sativa L.), J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 82:606–614 (2002).
Nolasco, S.M., L.A.N. Aguirrezabal, and G.H. Crapiste, Tocopherol Oil Concentration in Field-Grown Sunflower Is Accounted for by Oil Weight per Seed, J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 81:1045–1051 (2004).
Draper, H.A., Biogenesis, in Vitamin E: A Comprehensive Treatise, edited by L.J. Machlin, Marcel Dekker, New York, 1980.
Horvath, G., J. Bigirimana, Y. Guisez, R. Caubergs, M. Höffte and N. Horemans (2002) Indications for a Novel Tocotrienol (Vitamin E) Biosynthetic Pathway in Seeds of Cereals, presented at the Joint Symposium of Lipid and Cereal Sciences in Europe, Vichy, France, European section of the American Oil Chemists' Society, November 15–17, 2003.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Fisk, I.D., White, D.A., Carvalho, A. et al. Tocopherol—An intrinsic component of sunflower seed oil bodies. J Amer Oil Chem Soc 83, 341–344 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-006-1210-2
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-006-1210-2