Olive protein content and amino acid composition

Abstract

Protein content and its amino acid composition in samples of buds, leaves and fruits in one autochtonous (Zutica) and two introduced olive varieties (Picholine and Itrana), are presented in this paper. The results showed a great difference in protein content among varieties and parts of the plant. All the differencies were statistically significant. The highest protein content was in the buds (the highest was in Itrana' - 6.74%), then in leaves (Zutica - 5.84%), and the lowest was in the fruits. In the proteins of the investigated olive plant material, sixteen amino acids were detected from which seven were essential. The highest participation in the total amount of amino acids, in all varieties, had asparagine and glutamine acids. The highest content of essential amino acids was in buds and mature fruits; Itrana' had the highest (6.30% and 2.09%, respectively), and Picholine' the lowest (4.94% and 1.54%, respectively). The essential amino acids content in leaves increased from April to November in Iträna' (about 25%) and 'Picholine' (about 12%) while in Zutica it decreased (14%).