Polyphenoloxidase from Riesling and Dornfelder wine grapes (Vitis vinifera) is a tyrosinase.

Abstract Polyphenoloxidases (PPO) of the type-3 copper protein family are considered to be catecholoxidases catalyzing the oxidation of o-diphenols to their corresponding quinones. PPO from Grenache grapes has recently been reported to display only diphenolase activity. In contrast, we have characterized PPOs from Dornfelder and Riesling grapes which display both monophenolase and diphenolase activity. Ultracentrifugation and size exclusion chromatography indicated that both PPOs occur as monomers with Mr of about 38 kDa. Non-reducing SDS–PAGE shows two bands of about 38 kDa exhibiting strong activity. Remarkably, three bands up to 60 kDa displayed only very weak PPO activity, supporting th…