Biochemical Studies on Cycasin

Purification of β-glucosidase from the seeds of Japanese cycad, and properties of the purified preparation are described. The enzyme activity was determined by colorimetry using ONPG as substrate. Crude preparation was obtained easily by adsorption on fibrous CMC pulp. It was further purified by chromatography on CMC powder, and a preparation which showed an activity of 135-folds of the original extract was obtained. Influences of pH, temperature, and substrate concentration upon the enzyme activity were examined. Michaelis constant of the enzyme for ONPG was 3.3×10^–3M.