Endosperm is a plant tissue that surrounds the embryo of a seed and serves as a food source to keep seeds alive during their dormant state. It contains essential proteins, fats, and starches that are valuable for the human diet. The endosperm is divided into three regions and is produced by virtually all types of flowering plants. Some seeds retain the endosperm longer, making them valuable food sources. Stored seeds can remain viable for extremely long periods of time, with some germinating after being carbon-dated to be between 830 and 1,250 years old.
The endosperm is largely a form of starch that serves as a food source to keep seeds alive during their dormant state, after plant fertilization, but before the seeds have a chance to germinate. It is a form of plant tissue that surrounds the embryo of a seed and is produced by virtually all types of flowering plants. Seeds can exist for long periods of time as the viable offspring of a plant as long as they have enough endosperm to fuel very slow metabolic processes for the embryo. Much of the human diet that relies on ground seeds, such as that obtained from grains, is based on the nutritional value of the endosperm in the grain. The endosperm of corn, for example, is ground into flour or eaten directly in the form of popcorn.
The seed endosperm is a direct result of the fertilization process in plants. When a male gamete fuses with two female nuclei in the embryo sac, it produces endosperm which is triploid in nature, meaning it has a complete set of three chromosomes. This gives it a diversity of genetic and nutritional value in which it contains essential proteins, fats and starches that both plants and animals rely on for health. The endosperm is divided into three regions: the aleurone, which is a fine border region that helps the seed break down starch for growth during germination; the transfer layer, which acts as an interface with the plant itself for the absorption of nutrients; and most of the seed, which is the inner starch layer.
Plants use the endosperm at different rates, with some vegetables such as peas and beans consuming it entirely to reach maturity, and others, such as grain endosperm and coconuts, retaining it longer, which makes valuable food sources for the human diet. The process of producing and using the endosperm to keep seeds viable can be so efficient that some rare instances of stored seeds have remained able to germinate for extremely long periods of time. The seed of a carbon-dated 2,000-year-old date palm plant was germinated in Israel in 2005, originating from the palace of Herod the Great who ruled the Judea region of Israel from the year 37 to 4 BC The seeds of a type of water lily or lotus found buried in a layer of peat in Japan have proven to be viable. Most of those tested germinated after being removed from museum exhibits and have been carbon dated to be between 830 and 1,250 years old.
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