Everything about Endosperm totally explained
Endosperm is the
albumin tissue produced in the
seeds of most
flowering plants around the time of fertilization. It surrounds the
embryo and provides nutrition in the form of
starch, though it can also contain
oils and
protein. This makes endosperm an important source of nutrition in human diet. For example,
wheat endosperm is ground into flour for
bread (the rest of the grain is included as well in
whole wheat flour), while
barley endosperm is the main source for
beer production. Other examples for edible endosperm are
coconut "meat",
popcorn and
banana.
Origin of endosperm
Double fertilization
Endosperm is formed when the two
sperm nuclei inside a
pollen grain reach the interior of an
embryo sac or female gametophyte. One sperm nucleus fertilizes the
egg, forming a
zygote, while the other sperm nucleus usually fuses with the two female polar nuclei at the center of the embryo sac, creating endosperm (
double fertilization). Thus endosperm cells are usually triploid (containing three sets of chromosomes) but can vary widely from diploid (2n) to 15n.
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Endosperm formation
There are two different types of endosperm formation, the nuclear (or liquid endosperm) type, where formation of cell wall is delayed for a number of cell divisions, and the cellular, where cell wall formation is initiated instantly. The nuclear type is the most common one in angiosperms.
Sweet corn is picked for eating at the tender liquid endosperm stage, before cell walls have formed and the sugars have been converted to starch. The 'milk' of the
coconut is a liquid endosperm.
The role of endosperm in seed development
In some species (for example grains) the endosperm persists to the mature seed stage as a storage tissue, and in others it's absorbed during embryo development (for example
common bean,
Phaseolus vulgaris) and the function of storage tissue is performed by enlarged seed leaves (
cotyledons). In certain species (for example corn,
Zea mays) the storage function is distributed between both endosperm and the embryo. Some mature endosperm tissues store fats (for example
castor bean,
Ricinis communis) and others (including grains, such as wheat and corn) store mainly starches. The dust-like seeds of
orchids have no endosperm. Orchid seedlings are
mycoheterotrophic in their early development. In some other species, such as
coffee, the endosperm also doesn't develop.
(External Link) Instead the nucellus produces a nutritive tissue termed perisperm.
Cereal grains
Cereal crops are grown for their palatable
fruit (
grains or
caryopsis), which are primarily endosperm. In the caryopsis, the thin fruit wall is fused to the seed coat. Therefore, the nutritious part of the grain is the seed and its endosperm. In some cases (for example wheat, rice) the endosperm is selectively retained in food processing (as in white flour), and the embryo and seed coat removed. Endosperm thus has an important role within the human diet, worldwide.
The
aleurone is a maternal tissue that's retained as part of the seed in many small grains. The aleurone functions for both storage and digestion. During germination it secretes the
amylase enzyme that breaks down endosperm starch into sugars to nourish the growing seedling.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Endosperm'.
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