Cereal Chem 59:210 - 216.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Starch Degradation in Endosperms of Barley and Wheat Kernels During Initial Stages of Germination.

A. W. MacGregor and R. R. Matsuo. Copyright 1982 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

During initial stages of germination, patterns of starch degradation in kernels of barley and durum wheat appeared to be similar as assessed by scanning electron microscopy. Degradation started at the ventral crease edge of the endosperm-embryo junction and moved along this junction to the dorsal edge. This suggests that the site of initial alpha-amylase synthesis in germinating cereal grains is the embryo and not the aleurone layer.