Aliphatic and cyclic lipid components of Sorghum plant organs

Wax components of the aerial parts of mature plants of Sorghum bicolor were compared with those from the panicles and mature grains. Lipid content of the grain flour was also analysed. Attention has been paid to the polycyclic triterpenes distributions comparing different varieties of sorghum. The general occurrence of hopanoids suggests that they are significant chemotaxonomic markers for S. bicolor. Dotriacantanol was found to characterize the lipid content of the grain flour. Observations on this finding are reported.