The present study investigates the effect of storage on seed quality parameters of niger (Guizotia abyssinica), a marginal oilseed crop of Central India. The studied quality parameters were: percentage of vital molecules (oil content, protein and sugars), markers of seed deterioration (lipid peroxides, proline content) and activity of antioxidative enzymes (peroxidase, catalase) in the seeds stored for a period of seven years under ambient conditions. The results revealed that during storage, oil content reduced by 13%, protein by 18.4%, total sugar by 23.4% and reducing sugars by 45.6%. The seed deterioration markers increased as storage time increased. Proline content increased by 20.22% while malonaldehyde (lipid peroxide) increased by 32.6%. The antioxidative enzyme activity decreased by 45.5% for peroxidase and 36.2% for catalase respectively. Statistical analysis shows that niger seeds can be stored for one year without any significant loss of quality and upto 4 years with marginal loss of quality parameters
