Aleurone

Aleurone, a substance present in many seeds, in the cotyledons, or in the endosperm, either as minute granules, as in the pea, or, in the case of oily seeds, in larger roundish or angular bodies. They are similar in oomposition to protoplasm, and are sometimes termed "protein-grains," their function being apparently that of a reserve supply of nitrogenous food for the embryo. They sometimes contain a crystalloid, and almost invariably a globoid, or globular mass of a double phosphate of calcium and magnesium, soluble in acetic acid.