Harwood (1975) has observed that tri- acylglycerol, the main reserve of lipids in soya beans, decreased during the Ðrst 2 days of germination. The reduction was accompanied by an increase in phospho- lipids, with the exception of N-acylphosphatidyl- ethanolamine which disappeared, and a signiÐcant increase in the proportions of phosphatidic acid and phosphatidylglycerol