Olive catechol oxidase ‐ changes during fruit development

Changes were recorded in the subcellular location of catechol oxidase. In the green olive the enzyme is tightly bound to the chloroplast whereas in the black fruit it is essentially soluble. During fruit development, enzyme activity per fruit declines while the o‐diphenolic content rises steadily. Some properties of catechol oxidase from green and black olives are compared with those reported for the partially purified enzyme prepared from the green fruit.