Effects of fatty acid concentration and positional specificity on maize triglyceride structure.

The effects of fatty acid concentration and positional specificity on maize triglyceride structure were evaluated from the stereospecific analyses of triglycerides from 12 genotypes. The fatty acids at each position were influenced by the fatty acid concentration in the total triglyceride except for the saturates in the 2 position. The fatty acid concentration had the greatest effect on the fatty acid composition of position 3. The existence of positional specificity was evident from the nonrandom distribution of the fatty acids among the three positions of the triglycerides. The concentration and positional specificity effects could be separated in selected genotypes and their crosses. This indicated different genetic controls for each effect.