The production of olive (Olea europaea L.) is very important economically in many areas of the world, and particularly in countries around the Mediterranean basin. Ripening-associated modifications in cell wall composition and structure of fruits play an important role in attributes like firmness or susceptibility to infestations, rots and mechanical damage, but limited information on these aspects is currently available for olive. In this work, cell wall metabolism was studied in fruits from nine olive cultivars ('Arbequina', 'Argudell', 'Empeltre', 'Farga', 'Manzanilla', 'Marfil', 'Morrut', 'Picual' and 'Sevillenca') picked at three maturity stages (green, turning and ripe). Yields of alcohol-insoluble residue (AIR) recovered from fruits, as well as calcium content in fruit pericarp, decreased along ripening. Cultivar-specific diversity was observed in time-course change patterns of enzyme activity, particularly for those acting on arabinosyl- and galactosyl-rich pectin side chains. Even so, fruit firmness levels were associated to higher pectin methylesterase (PME) activity and calcium contents. In turn, fruit firmness correlated inversely with ascorbate content and with α-l-arabinofuranosidase (AFase) and β-galactosidase (β-Gal) activities, resulting in preferential loss of neutral sugars from cell wall polymers.
Keywords: Cell wall; Cultivars; Enzymes; Firmness loss; Maturity stage; Minerals; Olea europaea L.
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