Changes of antioxidants in maize seeds during their accelerated ageing

Abstract

The ageing processes of living organisms, including seeds, relate, to a great extent, to the activity of free radicals. The aim of this study was to investigate changes of the most important antioxidative substances carotenoids, phenolic and thiolic compounds and reduced glutathione (GSH) in seeds of six maize genotypes with different ability to maintain germination. The germination decrease in all maize genotypes was followed by the decrease of all observed antioxidants. The greatest decrease was observed in GSH and thiols, while change of phenolic compounds was sigmoidal. The analysis of the share of certain observed antioxidants in the antioxidative capacity shows that maintenance of germination of all maize genotypes depended on changes of the GSH content.

Proces starenja svih živih organizama, pa i semena u velikoj meri je vezan za slobodnoradikalsku aktivnost. Cilj rada bio je da se ispitaju promene najznačajnijih antioksidativnih materija: karotinoida, fenolnih i tiolnih jedinjenja i redukovanog glutationa (GSH) u semenu šest genotipova kukuruza sa različitim očuvanjem klijavosti. Pad klijavosti semena prati i pad sadržaja svih ispitivanih antioksidanata, uz najizraženiji pad GSH i tiolnih jedinjenja i sigmoidalnu promenu fenolnih jedinjenja. Analizom pojedinačnog udela ispitanih antioksidanata u antioksidativnom kapacitetu zaključili smo da održanje klijavosti svih genotipova kukuruza u najvećoj meri zavisi od promena sadržaja GSH.