In this review article we give a brief account of what is known about the changes in lipid composition and content during seed development. Triacylglycerols accumulate in the cell cytoplasm as oil bodies. During seed development the size of the oil bodies remains almost constant and accumulation of triacylglycerols is accompanied by increase in the number of oil bodies within the cell. Many authors have concluded that oil bodies are lipid droplets bounded by one half of normal, tripartite unit membrane. The accumulation of total lipids has been studied in a range of oil seeds including castor bean, crambe, soybean, rape, flax and safflower. Storage lipid accumulation in oil-rich seeds generally occurs in three distinct stages. During the initial stage, before the onset of rapid lipid accumulation, structural lipids (phospholipids and glycolipids) are the predominant lipid component while triacylglycerols are essentially absent. During the second stage, a rapid increase in total lipid is observed. The quantities of phospholipids and glycolipids usually also increase during this period (on a per seed basis) but they constitute only a small proportion (<10%) of the total lipids. By the end of this period triacylglycerols constitute about 90% of total lipids. During the final stage leading to full seed maturity, little change in lipid content occurs. There may also be some loss of phospholipids and glycolipids, especially in seeds that are green during development. This is related to the breakdown of chloroplasts and other organelles.