SUMMARY

In this research the observation of the preservation process of turning colour olives of Oblica cultivar (an autochthonous Croatian cultivar) processed according to the Californian type of processing has been carried out. Although the oblica cultivar is the most frequent cultivar in Croatian orchards, it is absolutely unexplored concerning the concentration of polyphenolic compounds (oleuropein and its derivatives) as well as concerning the composition of natural microflora in the fruit. It has been very important to determine to what extent the choice of preserving technology is optimal for the cultivar’s particularities. The changes of fundamental physical and chemical features of brine (total acidity, pH value, the concentration of sodium chloride, the concentration of sugar, and brine temperature) have been screened during the process of preservation. The appeareance of the lactobacilli population has also been observed. The Lactobacillus plantarum species has been isolated and identified in this population on the seventh day after the fruit has been put in brine. The Lactobacillus plantarum species has been isolated and identified by means of the API 50 CHL (“bioMérieux”, France) biochemical test and th