Concentrated Protease Enzyme

Description

Papain Concentrate is a food grade proteolytic enzyme preparation isolated from the latex of the Carica papaya fruit. It is characterized by its ability to hydrolyze large proteins into smaller peptides and amino acids.

Benefits

• Broad substrate specificity
• Capable of hydrolyzing small peptides as well as large proteins.
• Used in meat tenderizing, processing fish waste, chillproofing of beer, etc.
• Rapidly reduces viscosity of protein gels.

Properties

Assay	45,000 F.C.C. PU/mg
Form	Amorphous dry powder
Color	Tan to light brown
Odor	Characteristic
Taste	Free of offensive taste

Activity

One F.C.C. papain unit (F.C.C. PU) is that activity which will liberate the equivalent of one microgram of tyrosine per hour under the conditions of the assay. A copy of the Papain Assay (as found in the Food Chemicals Codex, 4th Edition) is available upon request.

Use Levels

Enzyme requirements are generally dictated by processing conditions. They will vary with protein substrate concentration, degree of desired protein hydrolysis, pH, temperature, and time of hydrolysis. In general, increasing the Papain concentration will increase the rate of protein hydrolysis and shorten the time necessary for hydrolysis. Initially evaluate Papain Concentrate at 0.001% to 0.01% based on the weight of protein substrate.

Effect of pH

The pH optimum of papain varies with the nature and concentration of the substrate. In general, the pH optimum range for Papain Concentrate is pH 5.0 to 7.0. The optimum is pH 5.0 for gelatin and pH 7.0 for casein and hemoglobin. Papain Concentrate demonstrates optimum stability over the range of pH 5.0 to 9.0 at 60 to 70C. In solution, values below pH 3.5 and above pH 10.0 rapidly inactivate the enzyme.

Optimum pH Range	pH 5.0 to 7.0
Effective pH Range	pH 3.5 to 9.0
pH Stability	pH 3.5 to 10.0

Effect of Temperature

Papain Concentrate has a temperature optimum range of 65 to 80C. The enzyme is extremely temperature stable in comparison to other proteases. Effective activity is demonstrated over the temperature range of 10 to 90C. Temperatures above 90C rapidly inactivate the enzyme.

Optimum Temperature Range	65 - 80C
Effective Temperature Range	Up to 90C

Packaging

Papain Concentrate is packaged in 10-kilogram fiber drums. Alternate custom packaging is available upon request for larger and smaller volumes.

Storage

In sealed containers, under cool, dry conditions, the loss of activity is normally less than 10% over one year. Storage life can be extended by storing under refrigeration at 5C.