Monitoring of the PAL Enzymatic Activity and Polyphenolic Compounds in Leaves and Fruits of Two Myrtle Cultivars during Maturation

Silvia Medda, Leonarda Dessena and Maurizio Mulas
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Silvia Medda: Department of Agriculture, University of Sassari (Italy), Via De Nicola 9, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Leonarda Dessena: Department of Agriculture, University of Sassari (Italy), Via De Nicola 9, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Maurizio Mulas: Department of Agriculture, University of Sassari (Italy), Via De Nicola 9, 07100 Sassari, Italy

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: The leaves and berries of myrtle ( Myrtus communis L.) are rich in phenolic compounds, such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, and flavanols. The richness of these antioxidant compounds allows the potential use of myrtle biomasses as raw materials for medicinal and functional food products. Most of the phenolic compounds originate from the phenylpropanoid pathway, where phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) enzyme activates the first step. The objective of this research is to study the activity of PAL as related to accumulation in the myrtle fruits and leaves of some phenolic compounds in the period between blossom and full berry ripening. With this aim, we compared two model genotypes with different fruit coloration. In leaves and berries of two cultivars, ‘Giovanna’ with pigmented berries and ‘Grazia’ with white berries, the PAL activity and content of polyphenols, anthocyanins, flavonoids, and tannins were determined with spectrophotometric methods. PAL activity was quite constant in leaves and variable in berries: Greater in berries of ‘Giovanna’ than in those of ‘Grazia’ cultivar, and increasing from berry color-break to full ripening. In berries, a positive correlation between PAL and flavonoids (r = 0.44), and between PAL and anthocyanins (r = 0.69), as well as a negative correlation between PAL and total polyphenols (r = −0.471), were found.

Keywords: phenylalanine ammonia lyase; myrtle leaves; myrtle berries; chemical analyses; phenolic compounds; phenylpropanoids (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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