Production of commercially suitable pectin methylesterase and polyphenol oxidase from agro-industrial wastes

Abstract

In this study, some simple and effective extraction and/or partial purification procedures were developed to obtain pectin methylesterase (PME) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzymes from orange peels and mushroom stems, respectively. Also, some characteristics of enzymes were investigated and their stable preparations were obtained in liquid or lyophilized forms. Valencia orange peels contain considerable PME activity (300-350 mL NaOH/min/100 g) that is quite stable during season for at least 5 months. The enzyme was ionically bound to cell walls and can not be extracted by homogenization with water. However, the addition of suitable amounts of NaCl (10 g /100 g extraction mixture) to pellet, obtained by homogenization of peels several times with water, and 30 min mixing (at 200 rpm) may be effectively used to extract the enzyme. The PME in orange peels contains almost the same amount of heat stable and heat labile fractions and the enzyme can not be activated by mild heating. A slight activation (almost 20 %) may be achieved by adding 1 mM CaCl2 to enzyme extracts. However, at higher concentrations the addition of CaCl2 was inhibitory. The PME activity in extracts, stabilized by use of 0.1 % Na-benzoate and 0.1 % K-sorbate, is stable almost 5 months at + 4 oC (maintains > 90 % of its activity). Thus, the commercial preparations of enzyme may be obtained in liquid form. The extracted PME was successfully used to prepare edible films from citrus pectin For the extraction of PPO, on the other hand, mushroom stems were first processed to acetone powder. The acetone powders were then extracted with Na-phosphate buffer and partially purified with ammonium sulfate (90 % saturation) or acetone precipitation (2-fold). Following dialysis, the recoveries and purification folds obtained from the partial purification of monophenolase activity of PPO from the same acetone powder were 74-86 % and 3.4-4.3 and 55-67 % and 5.4-6.2 for ammonium sulfate and acetone precipitations, respectively. Thus, it appears that the ammonium sulfate precipitation gives a higher yield but lower purity. The monophenolase activity of partially purified PPO is heat labile and showed inactivation above 45 oC. The enzyme exhibited a pH optimum between pH 6.0 and 8.0. The pH stability of enzyme was maximal at pH 7.0 and 8.0. However, at pH 4.0 the enzyme lost most of its activity after 24 h incubation. The optimum temperature of enzyme was found as 40 C. The monophenolase activity of PPO enzyme showed no stability in acetone powders at + 4 oC. However, it showed good stability at -18 oC for two months with retention of 60-70 % of its activity. The PPO partially purified with ammonium sulfate precipitation and dialysis, and lyophilized by using dextran or saccharose as supporting materials also retained its monophenolase and diphenolase activities for three months at -18 oC. The effect of lyophilization with dextran on temperature stability of enzyme was insignificant. However, lyophilization with dextran reduced the pH stability of monophenolase activity at 4.0 moderately. In addition to its monophenolase activity on tyrosine and diphenolase activity on L-DOPA, PPO lyophilized with dextran can also use phloridzin as substrate. Thus, it appears that the enzyme may be used in different food applications including the production of antioxidants and colorants, modification of proteins, fermentation of cocoa and black tea, etc.