Physicochemical studies of bromelain precipitated by ammonium sulphate from pineapple (Ananas comosus)

Morakinyo David Sanni, Oluwasegun Victor Omotoyinbo, Suleiman Olasukanmi Salawu

 

Full Length Research Paper  I Published March,2018

 

Journal of Agricultural Science and Food Technology  Vol. 4 (2), pp.41-45

 

 

ABSTRACT

Bromelain, a protease enzyme found in pineapple, was recovered from the different parts of the fruit; crown, flesh and peel of pineapple (Ananas comosus).Each part of pineapple after separation was weighed blended filtered and then filtrate was precipitated with ammonium sulphate and centrifuged. All extracts from each stage were collected and assayed for bromelain activity. The concentration of protein was also measured by using bovine serum albumin as standard while proteolytic activity was determined using azocasein as substrate at standard conditions. The effects of temperature and pH on bromelain were evaluated as well as the effect of activators and the enzymes proteoytic activity on different substrates. Results showed that bromelain was precipitated successfully in the 20-40% ammonium sulphate precipitation, its optimum temperature and pH being obtained at 40 ºC and 7.0 respectively. Also, cysteine was a better activator than Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) and bromelain’s activity was highest when bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as substrate. The bromelain recovery from this purification method is a viable process which can be applied for possible industrial purposes especially from pineapple which are discarded as waste.

Key Words: Bromelain, pineapple, azocasein, ammonium sulphate, protease, enzyme

 

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