We observed three main stages in the seed development of J. curcas.
The first stage is characterized by high cell division, with the development of zygotic embryogenesis. The second stage consists on cell expansion, when proteins and lipids are accumulated and water loss initiates.
This result is consistent with previous observations (Xu et al., 2011) that
during first developing stages, seed growth is gradually slow with a relative high increase of fresh weight towards more advanced stages. During the last and third stage, seeds stop growing and begin the process of
desiccation, with a simultaneous increase of lipid accumulation in the
storage tissues achieving a maximum value (data not shown)