OBSERVATIONS ON ORGANIC VOLATILES FROM GERMINATING SEEDS AND SEEDLINGS

Abstract

Germinating seeds of several plant species evolved oxidizable volatile compounds, including aliphatic aldehydes. Formaldehyde comprised only a small percentage of the total aldehydes detected. Most seeds evolved these compounds only during the first three or four days after imbibition, with peak production occurring during the second day. In general, larger seeds evolved greater quantities than smaller seeds, but, on a unit weight basis, smaller seeds evolved more. Dry, non‐germinating, or killed seeds evolved little or no volatiles, indicating that active seed metabolism was required for the production of volatiles. The light‐dark regime appeared to have little effect on volatile evolution.