KAHN, V., Department of Food Science, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, P. O. Box 6, Bet Dagan, Israel

4‐tert‐butylcatechol (t‐BC), at concentrations ranging from 0.033 to 16.6 mM, has a pronounced synergistic effect on the rate of DL‐DOPA oxidation to material absorbing at 475 nm (dopachrome) by mushroom tyrosinase. This phenomenon was found to be due to the ability of t‐BC‐quinone (formed by the oxidation of t‐BC by mushroom tyrosinase or by sodium periodate) to oxidize DL‐DOPA nonenzymatically. Copyright © 1990, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved