Two phase partitioning and collagen hydrolysis of bromelain from pineapple peel Nang Lae cultivar

Extraction of bromelain from pineapple peel (Nang Lae cultv.) using aqueous two phase system (ATPS) was optimized. Some biochemical properties including collagen hydrolysis were also investigated. Bromelain predominantly partitioned to the polyethylene glycol (PEG)-rich phase. The highest enzyme activity recovery (113.54%) and purification fold (2.23) were presented in the top phase of 15% PEG2000–14% MgSO₄. Protein pattern and activity staining showed the molecular weight (MW) of bromelain to be about 29 kDa. The extracted bromelain showed the highest relative activity at pH 7.0 and 55 °C. Its activity was decreased continuously by increasing NaCl concentration (up to 1.5% (w/v)). The bromelain extract was applied to hydrolyze the skin collagen of beef and giant catfish (0–0.3 units). The β, α₁, α₂ of giant catfish skin collagen extensively degraded into small peptides when treated with 0.02 units of the bromelain extract. Bovine collagen was hydrolyzed using higher bromelain up to 0.18 units. This study showed the ATPS can be employed to partially purify bromelain from Nang Lae pineapple peel and the enzyme effectively hydrolyzed the collagens.     

Applications of bromelain from pineapple waste towards acne

Bromelain is a proteolytic mixture obtained from pineapple (Ananas comosus (L. Merr)). It has diversified clinical properties and is used in alleviation of cancer, inflammation and oxidative stress. The current study focuses on extraction of bromelain from different parts of pineapple such as core, crown, fruit, peel and stem. The extracted enzyme was precipitated using ammonium sulphate at 40% saturation followed by dialysis. The fold of purification obtained for peel, crown, core, fruit and stem were found to be 1.948, 1.536, 1,027, 1.989, and 1.232 respectively. Bromelain activity was estimated using Azocasein assay, the highest activity was seen in peel at 3.417 U/μg. Antimicrobial activity and MIC of the bromelain purified and crude fractions was studied against the test organisms. Peel crude and purified extract exhibited highest inhibitory effect towards S. aureus followed by P. acne. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using DPPH antioxidant assay. IC50 values peel, fruit, stem and crown are found to be 13.158 μg/ml, 24.13 μg/ml and 23.33 μg/ml and 113.79 μg/ml respectively. The purified bromelain from peel, stem and crown was used to create a facewash formulation towards pathogens frequently associated with skin infections. Common skin pathogens like S. aureus and P. acne were found highly sensitive to its action. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of bromelain isolated from waste parts of pineapple in alleviation of acne due to its diverse antimicrobial properties.     

Stability,purification, and applications of bromelain: A review

Bromelain is a cysteine protease found in pineapple tissue. Because of its anti‐inflammatory and anti‐cancer activities, as well as its ability to induce apoptotic cell death, bromelain has proved useful in several therapeutic areas. The market for this protease is growing, and several studies exploring various properties of this molecule have been reported. This review aims to compile this data, and summarize the main findings on bromelain in the literature to date. The physicochemical properties and stability of bromelain under different conditions are discussed. Several studies on the purification of bromelain from crude extracts using a wide range of techniques such as liquid–liquid extractions by aqueous two‐phase system, ultrafiltration, precipitation, and chromatography, have been reported. Finally, the various applications of bromelain are presented. This review therefore covers the main properties of bromelain, aiming to provide an up‐to‐date compilation of the data reported on this enzyme. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:5–13, 2016     

Heterologous expression of the plant cysteine protease bromelain and its inhibitor in Pichia pastoris

Expression of proteases in heterologous hosts remains an ambitious challenge due to severe problems associated with digestion of host proteins. On the other hand, proteases are broadly used in industrial applications and resemble promising drug candidates. Bromelain is an herbal drug that is medicinally used for treatment of oedematous swellings and inflammatory conditions and consists in large part of proteolytic enzymes. Even though various experiments underline the requirement of active cysteine proteases for biological activity, so far no investigation succeeded to clearly clarify the pharmacological mode of action of bromelain. The potential role of proteases themselves and other molecules of this multi‐component extract currently remain largely unknown or ill defined. Here, we set out to express several bromelain cysteine proteases as well as a bromelain inhibitor molecule in order to gain defined molecular entities for subsequent studies. After cloning the genes from its natural source Ananas comosus (pineapple plant) into Pichia pastoris and subsequent fermentation and purification, we obtained active protease and inhibitor molecules which were subsequently biochemically characterized. Employing purified bromelain fractions paves the way for further elucidation of pharmacological activities of this natural product. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:54–65, 2017     

Pineapple stem bromelain immobilized on different supports: Catalytic properties in model wine

Bromelain from pineapple stem has been covalently immobilized on different supports to select the more efficient biocatalyst that should be applied toward unstable proteins in real white wine. In this preliminary study, catalytic properties of different immobilized bromelain forms were compared under wine‐like conditions, against a synthetic substrate (Bz‐Phe‐Val‐Arg‐pNA).Covalent immobilization affected protease kinetic properties, even if all immobilized forms presented both a better substrate affinity and higher half‐life (with the exception of a few procedures) with respect to the free enzyme. Stem bromelain was successfully immobilized on chitosan beads without glutaraldehyde thus yielding a food‐safe and promising biocatalyst for unstable real wine future application. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2012     

Use of reverse micellar systems for the extraction and purification of bromelain from pineapple wastes

Reverse micellar systems of CTAB/isooctane/hexanol/butanol and AOT/isooctane are used for the extraction and primary purification of bromelain from crude aqueous extract of pineapple wastes (core, peel, crown and extended stem). The effect of forward as well as back extraction process parameters on the extraction efficiency, activity recovery and purification fold is studied in detail for the pineapple core extract. The optimized conditions for the extraction from core resulted in forward and back extraction efficiencies of 45% and 62%, respectively, using reverse micellar system of cationic surfactant CTAB. A fairly good activity recovery (106%) and purification (5.2-fold) of bromelain is obtained under these conditions. Reverse micellar extraction from peel, extended stem and crown using CTAB system resulted in purification folds of 2.1, 3.5, and 1.7, respectively. Extraction from extended stem using anionic surfactant AOT in isooctane did not yield good results under the operating conditions employed.     

Pineapple stem-derived bromelain based priming improves pepper seed protein reserve mobilization,germination, emergence and plant growth

Pepper seeds are slow to germinate and emergence is often non-uniform and incomplete, reducing gains from this cash crop. This study investigated the effects of pineapple stem- derived protease (stem bromelain) based priming on pepper seed germination in relation to reserve mobilization (specifically, proteins and amino acids), germination, emergence and plant growth. These parameters were compared across two controls, (1) unsoaked seeds and (2) seeds soaked in deionized water, and seeds soaked in pineapple stem bromelain crude extract (treatment). Seeds were soaked in bromelain crude extract possessing a proteolytic activity of 6.25 tU or deionized water (first control) for 3 h at 35 °C. Light microscopy revealed an abundance of protein bodies in the endosperm of the seeds prior to imbibition. When observed for a period of 96 h, these bodies were progressively degraded, with the rate of this degradation being fastest in bromelain-treated seeds. Quantitative analysis of protein levels confirmed this observation: 17.2 mg proteins/g FW at 120 h after priming in bromelain-treated seeds compared with 22.1 mg/g FW in controls (average). The bromelain treatment also increased levels of free amino acids from 3.9 mg/g FW in the controls to 4.6 mg/g FW after 120 h of imbibition. Germination and emergence percentages were initially higher in bromelain-treated seeds: 92.0% germination in bromelain-treated seeds vs. ~ 52.2% in the controls at 18 d; 100% emergence in protease-treated seeds vs. ~ 72.2% in the controls at 18 d. However, these parameters were comparable across the treatment and the controls at 28 d. Importantly, plant fresh and dry weights were significantly higher when seeds were primed with bromelain. The results suggest the use of bromelain extracts for priming pepper seeds based on their proteolytic activity, since germination is dependent on the availability of crude protein and essential amino acids. The benefits of bromelain seed priming appear to translate into improved seedling growth as well.     

Additional stabilization of stem bromelain coupled to a thermosensitive polymer by uniform orientation and using polyclonal antibodies

Stem bromelain was covalently coupled to a thermosensitive polymer of N-isopropylacrylamide (p(NIPAm)) either through the amino groups of the enzyme (randomly coupled) or via the lone oligosaccharide chain (uniformly coupled). The enzyme coupled via the oligosaccharide chain exhibited better access to the substrate casein as compared to the preparation in which the amino groups formed the point of contact between the enzyme and the polymer. Native bromelain exhibited a pH optimum of 8.0 and a broad pH-activity profile. The polymer-coupled preparations exhibited broader pH-activity profiles and shifting of pH optimum to 10.0 at 35°C. At 25°C, the shifting of pH optimum was observed for the randomly coupled enzyme only. The temperature-activity profiles of bromelain coupled to p(NIPAm) also showed appreciable broadening and the preparations retained greater fraction of maximum activity above the temperature optimum. The optimum temperature of the uniformly oriented preparation also rose to 70°C. Inactivation rates of the polymer-coupled bromelain were remarkably low at 60°C as compared to the native protease, and binding of antibromelain antibodies improved the resistance to inactivation of the polymer-coupled preparations. The cleavage patterns of hemoglobin and IgG by the native bromelain and the polymer-coupled preparations were comparable. Published in Russian in Biokhimiya, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 3, pp. 375–382.     

Purification of anti-bromelain antibodies by affinity precipitation using pNIPAm-linked bromelain

Affinity precipitation has emerged as a very useful technique for the purification of proteins. Here it has been employed for the purification of anti-bromelain antibodies from rabbit serum. A system has been developed for reversibly binding and thermoprecipitating antibodies. Anti-bromelain antibodies were raised in rabbit by immunizing it with bromelain. Poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (pNIPAm)–bromelain conjugate was prepared and incubated with rabbit serum. After that the temperature was raised for thermal precipitation of the polymer. Antibodies were then eluted from the complex by incubating it with a small volume of buffer, pH 3.0. This method is very effective in concentrating the antibodies. Purity and specificity of the antibodies were checked by gel electrophoresis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. The study of the effect of pH and temperature on the binding of the antibodies to the conjugate showed that the optimum binding occurred at pH 8.0 and 25°C.The polymer enzyme conjugate was further used for another cycle.     

Bromelain, a cysteine protease from pineapple (Ananas comosus) stem, is an inhibitor of fungal plant pathogens

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of bromelain, a cysteine protease isolated from pineapple (Ananas comosus), on growth of several agronomically important fungal pathogens. Methods and Results: Purification of bromelain from pineapple stems was carried out by chromatography techniques, and its antimicrobial activity was tested against the fungal pathogens Fusarium verticillioides, Fusarium oxysporum and Fusarium proliferatum by broth microdilution assay. A concentration of 0·3 μmol l^?1 of bromelain was sufficient for 90% growth inhibition of F. verticillioides. The capability of bromelain to inhibit fungal growth is related to its proteolytic activity. Conclusions: The study demonstrates that stem bromelain exhibits a potent antifungal activity against phytopathogens and suggests its potential use as an effective agent for crop protection. Significance and Impact of the Study: The results support the use of a natural protease that accumulates at high levels in pineapple stems as alternative to the use of chemical fungicides for crop protection.     

Purification and Characterization of a Thermostable Alkaline Protease from Alkalophilic Thermoactinomyces sp. H8682

Protease secreted into the culture medium by alkalophilic Thermoactinomyces sp. HS682 was purified to an electrophoretically homogeneous state through only two chromatograhies using Butyl-Toyopearl 650M and SP-Toyopearl 650S columns. The purified enzyme has an apparent relative molecular mass of 25, 000 according to gel filtration on a Sephadex G-75 column and SDS-PAGE and an isoelectric point above 11.0.

Its proteolytic activity was inhibited by active-site inhibitors of serine protease, DFP and PMSF, and metal ions, Cu²⁺ and Hg²⁺. The enzyme was stable toward some detergents, sodium perborate, sodium triphosphate, sodium-n-dodecylbenzenesulfonate, and sodium dodecyl sulfate, at a concentration of 0.1% and pH 11.5 and 37°C for 60 min. The optimum pH was pH 11.5–13.0 at 37°C and the optimum temperature was 70°C at pH 11.5. Calcium divalent cation raised the pH and heat stabilities of the enzyme. In the presence of 5 mM CaCl₂, it showed maximum proteolytic activity at 80°C and stability from pH 4–12.5 at 60°C and below 75°C at pH 11.5. The stabilization by Ca²⁺ was observed in secondary conformation deduced from the circular dichroic spectrum of the enzyme. The protease hydrolyzed the ester bond of benzoyl leucine ester well. The amino acid terminal sequence of the enzyme showed high homology with those of Microbiol serine protease, although alanine of the NH₂-terminal amino acid was deleted.     

Process optimization for reverse micellar extraction of stem bromelain with a focus on back extraction

In the current study, reverse micellar extraction (RME) for the purification of stem bromelain was successfully achieved using the sodium bis(2‐ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT)/isooctane system. A maximum forward extraction efficiency of 58.0% was obtained at 100 mM AOT concentration, aqueous phase pH of 8.0 and 0.2 M NaCl. Back extraction studies on altering stripping phase pH and KCl concentration, addition of counter‐ion and iso‐propyl alcohol (IPA) and mechanical agitation with glass beads indicated that IPA addition and agitation with glass beads have significant effects on extraction efficiency. The protein extraction was higher (51.9%) in case of the IPA (10% v/v) added system during back extraction as compared to a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (100 mM) added system (9.42%). The central composite design technique was used to optimize the back extraction conditions further. Concentration of IPA, amount of glass beads, mixing time, and agitation speed (in rpm) were the variables selected. IPA concentration of 8.5% (v/v), glass bead concentration of 0.6 (w/v), and mixing time of 45 min at 400 rpm resulted in higher back extraction efficiency of 45.6% and activity recovery of 88.8% with purification of 3.04‐fold. The study indicated that mechanical agitation using glass beads could be used for destabilizing the reverse micelles and release of bromelain back into the fresh aqueous phase. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 30:845–855, 2014     

Partial purification and characterization of an alkaline proteinase from the rabbit testis

A proteolytic enzyme capable of cleaving intact proteins and synthetic substrates α?N?benzoyl?DL?arginine β?naphthylamide (Bz-Arg-NNap), α-N-benzoyl-L-arginine p-nitroanilde (Bz-Arg-NPhNO₂), and α-N-benzoyl-L-arginine ethyl ester (Bz-Arg-OEt) was purified 92– fold from the rabbit testes. The enzyme exhibited optimal activity at pH 9.0 and 50°C. The polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the purified enzyme demonstrated multiple forms; the major band in the SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis corresponded to a M_t 48,000. The same value was established by the gel filtration over Sephadex G-75. The rabbit testicular alkaline proteinase (TAP) resembled acrosin in the hydrolysis of Bz-Arg-OEt. However, CaCl₂, a potential stimulator of acrosin activity, inhibited the alkaline proteinase. The strong inhibitors of acrosin, eg pheny methyl sulphonyl fluoride (PMSF), tosyl lysine chloromethyl ketone (TLCK), and benzamidine did not inhibit the alkaline proteinase. TAP was activated by an acrosin inhibitor isolated from the rabbit testes. Since 0.5 M KCl was necessary for complete extraction of the enzyme and the bulk of the activity was present in 9,000g pellet of the testicular homogenate. The alkaline proteinase appeared to be associated with the membranous structures.     

Susceptibility of the interchain peptide of a bromelain inhibitor precursor to the target proteases bromelain, chymotrypsin, and trypsin

Bromein, a cysteine proteinase inhibitor from pineapple stem, is a unique double-chain inhibitor. The 27.5-kDa precursor protein is processed by the removal of three interchain, two interdomain, and two terminal-flanking peptides, thus resulting in the release of mature isoinhibitors of approximately 6 kDa. To characterize the processing of the interchain peptide Thr15-Ser-Ser-Ser-Asp, we expressed a single-chain precursor with this peptide and monitored proteolytic cleavage by the target proteinase bromelain. By peptide sequencing and mass spectrometric analysis, the initial cleavage was found to occur in vitro between the light-chain and interchain peptides; subsequent trimming formed the terminal-ragged peptides Thr15-Lys60, Ser17-Lys60, Ser18-Lys60, and Asp19-Lys60. However, bromelain did not show any cleavage activity between the interchain and heavy-chain peptides. We also discovered that cleavage between the light-chain and interchain peptides is essential for the single-chain inhibitor to exhibit full inhibitory activity. Notably, the incompletely processed intermediates showed higher inhibitory activity than either the native bromein or the single-chain precursor. Bromein is also known to weakly inhibit the serine proteinases chymotrypsin and trypsin; however, a recombinant single-chain inhibitor with the interchain peptide was no longer able to inhibit these serine proteinases.     

Stem bromelain: an enzyme that naturally facilitates oriented immobilization

The lone oligosaccharide chain of stem bromelain was oxidized with periodic acid to generate aldehyde groups and the resulting oxidized enzyme coupled to amino-Sepharose in order to obtain an immobilized preparation with uniformly oriented enzyme. The immobilized bromelain exhibited high proteolytic activity and remarkably enhanced thermal stability as compared to soluble bromelain and that coupled to CNBr activated Sepharose.     

pH-dependent urea-induced unfolding of stem bromelain: Unusual stability against urea at neutral pH

Equilibrium unfolding of stem bromelain (SB) with urea as a denaturant has been monitored as a function of pH using circular dichroism and fluorescence emission spectroscopy. Urea-induced denaturation studies at pH 4.5 showed that SB unfolds through a two-state mechanism and yields ΔG (free energy difference between the fully folded and unfolded forms) of ∼5.0 kcal/mol and C _m (midpoint of the unfolding transition) of ∼6.5 M at 25°C. Very high concentration of urea (9.5 M) provides unusual stability to the protein with no more structural loss and transition to a completely unfolded state.     

Evidence for the presence of an acid protease and protease inhibitors in dormant embryos of Artemia salina.

Proteolytic activity has been implicated in several key processes in early development. In an attempt to correlate proteolytic activity with developmental events, a study of the protease(s) in undeveloped cysts of Artemia salina was initiated using 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid to determine the release of amino groups upon protein hydrolysis. The versatility and sensitivity of this reagent made it possible to detect and characterize the proteolytic activity in small quantities of cysts of the brine shrimp. A protease with a molecular weight of 84,000, a pH optimum of 3.6, and a temperature optimum of 45°C was partially purified from Artemia cysts using ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration. In addition, two acid protease inhibitors, one dialyzable and one nondialyzable, were found in crude extracts of the cysts. The latter was partially purified and found to have a molecular weight of between 10,000 and 20,000. The activity of the acid protease is not dependent on CaCl₂ or EDTA, but CaCl₂ in the reaction mixture increases the rate of inactivation of the nondialyzable protease inhibitor. The inhibitors may complex with the acid protease in the embryo and control its activity during development.     

Oriented immobilization of stem bromelain via the lone histidine on a metal affinity support

Bromelain is a basic, 23.8 kDa thiol proteinase obtained from the stem of the pineapple plant (Ananas comosus) and is unique for it contains a single histidine residue (His-158) in the polypeptide. Based on the technology of protein separation with immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC), a method for oriented immobilization of bromelain was selected. Bromelain was successfully immobilized on iminodiacetic acid carrier Sepharose 6B. Cu²⁺ complexed with iminodiacetate (IDA) was used as the chelating ligand to bind the lone histidine on bromelain. Simultaneously, preparation of a high affinity immobilized preparation was attempted using a soluble cross-linked preparation of bromelain on Cu-IDA-Sepharose. However this second method proved unsuccessful, possibly due to poor histidine accessibility in the cross-linked preparation. The immobilized preparation obtained using uncrosslinked bromelain was more resistant to thermal inactivation, as evidenced by retention of over enzyme 50% activity after incubation at 60 °C, as compared to 20% retained by the native enzyme. The immobilized preparation also exhibited a broader pH-activity profile in acidic range. The native, immobilized and soluble cross-linked bromelain showed apparent Michaelis constant (K_m) values of 1.08, 0.42, 1.56 mg/ml, respectively, using casein as the substrate. While the maximum velocity (V_max) values of the soluble and immobilized preparations were comparable, cross-linked preparation showed a 20% decrease, suggesting inactivation. The mild conditions used for predominantly oriented immobilization exploiting the unique property of single histidine, the high recovery of immobilized preparations, the stability, reusability and the regenerability of the matrix are the main features of the method reported here.     

The Effects of Drying Temperature on the Extractability of Metals from Dredged Sediments

Dredged sediments may contain considerable amounts of metallic and/or organic pollutants. The risk of metal transfer from sediment deposits to soils can be evaluated using chemical extraction procedures; however, the temperatures at which samples are dried before metal extraction vary widely from one study to another. This led us to investigate the impact of drying temperature on the extractability of metals from dredged sediments. First, water-, CaCl ₂ - and DTPA-extractions were performed on 12 dredged sediments collected in France, with analyses being carried out on both raw (i.e. not dried) samples and on samples dried at 105°C. Higher extractable Cd and Zn contents were recorded for the samples dried at 105°C than for the raw samples. In order to assess the effect of drying temperature on metal extractability, we selected one sediment and carried out CaCl ₂ -, HNO ₃ - and DTPA-extractions on the raw sample and on samples dried at three different temperatures. In general, increasing the drying temperature led to an increase in the extractability of Cr and Cu for all three extraction methods. The CaCl ₂ -extractability of Ni and Zn decreased as drying temperature increased, except for the sample dried at 105°C. The HNO ₃ - and DTPA-extractabilities of these two metals were highest when the sediments were air-dried and then decreased with increasing drying temperature. Similar behavior was observed for Cd, except in the case of HNO ₃ -extractability. As the aim of chemical analysis using selective extraction is to measure the bio-available fractions of metals in soils and sediments, we suggest that extraction should be carried out on raw samples in order to simulate plant growth conditions.