Plants growing under natural conditions are exposed to a variety of stresses, which can lead to undesirable changes in the physiological processes and yielding. These changes can be regulated at different levels, resulting in the synthesis of specific proteins which participate in the plant's response to stress. The purpose of this study was to determine changes in the accumulation of proteins in germinating pea (Pisum sativum L.) seeds under optimal and osmotic (short- and long-term) stress conditions as well as recovery following a short-term stress. For identification of the proteins, two-dimensional electrophoresis and mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) were employed. Germination in optimal conditions increased the accumulation of several proteins involved in glycolysis, Krebs cycle, synthesis of fatty acids, cell growth, cellular transport and detoxification. Osmotic stress, in turn, depressed the accumulation of proteins involved in glycolysis, synthesis of fatty acids, detoxication, methionine conversions, cellular transport, translation, growth control and of cytoskeletal proteins, but raised the accumulation of enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle as well as proteins participating in signal transduction and protection (chaperones). One protein, 6a-hydroxymaackian-3-O-methyltransferase, which is involved in the synthesis of pisatin, was present only under osmotic stress conditions and recovery. Pisatin is synthesized mainly in response to microbiological infections and under stress conditions, indicating its key role in the acquisition of stress tolerance by plants.