Experimental investigations on the dynamics of beta-amylase in some Graminaceae species

The present paper synthesizes the results of the investigations devoted to the dynamics of β-amylase activity in germinated caryopses belonging to some species of the Poaceae family, namely: Setaria pumila (bristle grass), Festuca pratensis (hair grass) and Sorghum sudanense (Sudan grass), as correlated with the dynamics of starch concentration, recorded along ten germination days. On one side, the obtained results evidence that, in the process of reserve polyglucides mobilization, this enzyme plays an at least as equally important role as the α-amylase and, on the other, the considerable differences observed among the three Poaceae species from cultivated and, respectively, spontaneous flora.