Content and distribution of protein, sugars and inositol phosphates during the germination and seedling growth of two cultivars of Vicia faba

The storage protein profile of seed cotyledons and the content of soluble sugar and inositol phosphates in the cotyledons and embryo axis during germination and seedling growth of two cultivars of faba bean, Vicia faba (Alameda and Brocal), were studied because little is known of the precise distribution of these compounds in the different parts of faba bean seeds. Among storage protein fractions, the legumins showed the greatest mobilization by hydrolysis 3 days after imbibition (DAI). In both bean cultivars, the raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs) content, mainly present in the cotyledons, were drastically reduced by 2 DAI. However, total sugars concentration in the embryo axis at 9 DAI had increased more than 20-fold. Germination and seedling growth reduced the phytate content of the cotyledon (8–14%) and in the embryo axis (3–7%). A knowledge of the mechanism and timing of mobilization of each storage protein fraction, oligosaccharides and myo-inositol phosphates could help to establish and even rationally modify the nutritional relevance of these compounds in legume seed.