Papain is the best known cysteine protease. It was isolated in 1879 from the fruits of Carica papaya and was also the first protease of which a crystallographic structure was determined.
Papain is gathered by scoring the surface of the mature, unripe fruit after which the latex is collected and dried.
Papain is usually considered as a typical globular protein of modest size: its molecule weight is just 23,000 Da.
Upon heating it denatures in a rather narrow temperature range with extensive heat absorption.
The optimal activity of papain occurs art pH 5.8-7.0 and at temperature 50-57 °C when casein is used as the substrate.
It is a digestive enzyme that is used in meat tenderizers to breakdown tough meat fibers. South Americans have used papain to tenderize meat for centuries and it is now available in powdered meat tenderizers all over the word.
Papain is synthesized in the leaf mesophyll and transported to the pericarp of developing fruit via laticiferous ducts, the concentration of the protease is highest in the latex of unripe fruits.
What is papain?
The Most Popular Posts
-
Crude fiber is a measure of the quantity of indigestible cellulose, pentosans, lignin, and other components of this type in present foods. ... -
Ash or mineral content is the portion of the food or any organic material that remains after it is burned at very high temperatures. The a... -
Crude fat is the term used to refer to the crude mixture of fat-soluble material present in a sample. Crude fat also known as the ether ext... -
Gelatinization occurs when starch granules are heated in a liquid. It is responsible for the thickening of food systems. The process is an i... -
Density is the weight of a substance per unit of volume, while specific gravity is the ratio between the density of the substance and that o...