NMR study of seed hydration with deuterated water: dependence of proton signals on hydration level

Proton NMR signals in seeds are shown to depend on hydration level. In fact at low water amount, as it occurs in many native seeds, protons can have a restricted mobility and are not detectable. A NMR method for measuring the dependence of proton signals on hydration is reported. The method also allows the separation of the contributions of water and non-water protons in a low-resolution NMR experiment. It is based on successive hydrations (with deuterated water) - desiccation steps and on the analysis of the transverse magnetization decay curves.