Characterising oil bodies from oats

Abstract

Oil bodies (0.1 2.5 µm in diameter) are present in oilseeds, and their principle role is to store neutral lipids prior to their mobilisation during germination (Huang, 1992; Murphy, 2001). Oats are relatively enriched in oil (3-12% of dry grain mass), but is the oil in-vivo packaged in a similar way to the oil within oilseeds? Although researchers using microscopy have observed spherical droplets of lipid rich material in oat grain no one has analysed these entities ex-vivo. Oil bodies were recovered from oat bran using an aqueous-based flotation system. Water and urea were used to clean the preparations and SDS-PAGE results confirmed the removal of extraneous proteins. Equivalent oil bodies were recovered from sunflower seeds and comparative studies carried out. Oil body particle size, morphology, intrinsic protein composition and rheology were investigated. Oil bodies recovered from oats are, in certain aspects, distinct from those recovered from sunflower seeds. This suggests differences between the biosynthesis of oil bodies from cereals and from oilseeds. and would determine any potential applications for oat oil bodies within industry. Huang, A.H.C. 1992. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology 43: 177-200; Murphy, D. 2001. Progress in Lipid Research 40 (5): 325-438