Pericarp and endosperm structure of sorghum grain shown by scanning electron microscopy

Abstract

In varieties with soft or opaque endosperm the tissue is characterized by relatively irregular air spaces and the starch grains are round and covered with a thin protein sheet embedded in which are large spherical protein bodies. In hard or translucent-endosperm varieties, the endosperm is characterized by a tightly packed structure with no air spaces and the starch grains are polygonal and covered with a thin protein matrix embedded in which are kafrin-protein bodies low in lysine. The content of aminoacids, ammonia and protein is tabulated for eleven lines from the Sudan and USA. A Sudanese dwarf variety contained more lysine and less glutamic acid and leucine than other lines