Cereal Chem 45:581 - 588.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Intracellular Distribution of Tocopherol in Soybean Cotyledons.

M. Komoda, S. Matsushita, and I. Harada. Copyright 1968 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Soaked soybean seeds were homogenized and fractionated into cellular particles, cytoplasmic solution, and storage particles resembling protein bodies. Tocopherol in seeds is distributed about 10, 15, and 60% respectively in these fractions. Tocopherol is also distributed to the cellular particles and the cytoplasmic solution of hypocotyls which contain no deposit lipids. A large part of the tocopherol in cotyledons is distributed to the storage particles. This consisted of more than 20% lipids. However, tocopherol seemed not to be always contained in the storage lipids, because the tocopherol content of the preparations was not proportional to the lipid content. Part of the tocopherol may be contained in the unit membranes which are distributed widely in the cell. Tocopherol content in cotyledons did not decrease by imbibition or germination, and no oxidizing enzymes for tocopherol were detected in the homogenate. Therefore, the low tocopherol content in the extracted oil from moistened soybeans may be a result of difficulty of contact of solvent with the site of tocopherol in cellular components owing to interference by moisture.