Changes in structure of triglycerides from maturing kernels of corn

Kernels of corn inbred H51 were collected at five intervals after hand pollination. The triglyceride content of the total lipids increased from 8.6% at 10 days after pollination to 78.3% at 60 days. The most active period of triglyceride synthesis occurred from 20 to 45 days after pollination, when the weight of triglycerides per kernel increased from 1.1 to 7.5 mg. Over all the collection periods the percentages of palmitic, linoleic and linolenic acids decreased while oleic acid increased, but from 30 to 60 days after pollination the fatty acid composition of the triglycerides was nearly constant. Stereospecific analysis revealed a general fatty acid pattern for the triglycerides, in which the concentration of the saturated acids was highest in position 1, linoleic acid in 2 and oleic acid in 3. From 20 to 60 days after pollination there was little change in the fatty acid composition at the 1 position, but the largest changes occurred at the 3 position where palmitic and oleic acids decreased 5.1% and 7.3%, respectively, and linoleic acid increased 13.4%. The variations in the molecular species of the triglycerides were determined by silver nitrate thin layer chromatography and were found to be small from 20 to 60 days after pollination, except for an increase in trilinolein from 5.2 to 11.9%. Stereospecific analyses of four major triglycerides species, SMD, M₂D, SD₂, and MD₂, revealed larger changes in fatty acid distribution at individual positions during maturation than were apparent from analyses of the total triglycerides. Presented in part at the AOCS Meeting, Ottawa, September 1972.