Abstract
Acetyl-CoA synthetase (ACS) activity in fully ripened bananas was determined by HPLC. The ACS activity was higher for acetate as a substrate than for butyrate. The higher substrate specificity for acetate than for butyrate evidences that banana produces a great amount of acetate esters and a less amount of butyrate esters. The Km for MgCl2 for butyryl-CoA formation was 5-fold higher than that for acetyl-CoA formation. ACS activity was assayed in mitochondrial, microsomal, and cytosol fractions isolated from ripened banana pulp and the highest total enzyme activity was detected in the cytosol fraction. This is the first report on the presence of this enzyme, ACS, in fruit pulp.
