Many seeds contain a store of lipid in the form of triaylglycerol (TAG), which provides carbon and energy to support post-germinative seedling growth. The investigation of the fatty acid structure of the TAG during their dissociation of great interest in respect to the question of the metabolism of oil on the level of a plant during its ontogenesis.

Hippophaea rhamnoides L. seeds were germinated for 10 d under laboratory conditions. Content, fatty acid composition, and glyceride profile of oil from seeds were investigated by various chemical and chromatographic methods. The oil content ranged from 18 to 24 %, with triacylglycerols comprising between 94 and 98 % of extracted neutral lipids (NL). The neutral lipids comprised the major fraction of seed lipids, and triacylglycerols predominated over all other lipid components even during the germination period. The oil content of the seeds was reduced fourfold at the end of the 10-d germination period as compared to ungerminated seeds on a fresh weight basis.

Palmitic (C_16:0), oleic (C_18:1), linoleic (C_18:2), linolenic (C_18:3) acids were the predominant fatty acids of seed lipids and constituted 80 % of the total lipids. C_{18:1 ,}C_18:2 , C_18:3 acids were the dominant polyunsaturated acids (PUFA), monounsaturated acids (MUFA) of the fraction TAG of lipids, respectively. The contribution of linoleic acid to the total fatty acids of TAG was comparatively less than that to neutral lipids or polar lipids, and its content nearly doubled after 10 d of germination. The MUFA present in the TAG fraction on 0 of 10 d germination were C_16:1, C_18:1 , but their content decreased as a result of germination.