DETERMINATION OF SOME PRECURSORS OF LIPID BIOSYNTHESIS IN OLIVE FRUITS DURING RIPENING

Some metabolites were determined in olive fruits at different development phases starting from the beginning of fruiting until the harvest time when the tested cultivars ‘Leccino’, ‘I-77’ and ‘Ascolana Tenera’ gave an oil content of 26.3%, 20.0% and 19.0% on FW, respectively. Glucose, fructose and mannitol were considered. In all the cultivars glucose was found to be the predominant sugar in the entire development period. Among the acids of Krebs' cycle, citric acid was evaluated. Data on the amount of sugars and particularly on the highest glucose content in the cultivar which gave the lowest oil content, suggest that oil acumulation depends more upon the different cultivars capability to metabolize substrates than upon a deficit of the same compounds.