Effect of cultivation age and embryo size on specific oxygen uptake rate in developing somatic embryos of Daucus carota L.

The average specific oxygen uptake rate of carrot (Daucus carota L.) somatic embryos in batch culture decreased with cultivation time, coinciding with an increase in the size and maturity of the embryos. From experiments performed on three size classes obtained at 15 days of culture, larger embryos were found to have a lower oxygen uptake rate suggesting either a lower intrinsic metabolic activity and/or transport limitations leading to a reduction in the observed metabolic activity.