Volatile organic compounds from germinating seeds of Cyclopia species as affected by temperature
Metabolic changes in seeds during imbibition and germination liberate quantities of gaseous and volatile metabolites known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), related to the amount of organic substances present in the seeds. VOCs act by either inducing or inhibiting seed dormancy
as a result of abiotic factors such as temperature (thermodormancy) that affect seed organic substances. Cyclopia (honeybush) species have great economic value but present horticultural problems; a lack of detailed information on seed physiology and germination characteristics hampers
production and cultivation. This study determined VOCs from germinating C. genistoides and C. subternata seeds at different temperatures using headspace solid-phase-micro extraction (HS-SPME) and liquid adsorption followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). VOC
emissions from Cyclopia seeds were temperature-, extraction method- and species-dependent, and varied quantitatively and qualitatively with these variables. There were more VOCs separated by GC-MS in C. subternata (15) than C. genistoides (13), possibly due to a higher
metabolic rate of seed storage reserves.
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 April 2017
This article was made available online on 13 February 2017 as a Fast Track article with title: "Volatile organic compounds from germinating seeds of cyclopia species as affected by temperature".
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