Immobilization imparts stability to watermelon urease to work in water miscible organic media

The behaviour of alginate immobilized and soluble watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris) urease in water miscible organic solvents like, acetonitrile, dimethylformamide (DMF), ethanol, methanol, and propanol is described. The organic solvents exhibited a concentration dependent inhibitory effect on both the immobilized and the soluble urease in the presence of urea. Pretreatment of soluble enzyme preparations with organic solvents in the absence of substrate for 10 min at 30°C led to rapid loss in the activity, while similar pretreatment of immobilized urease with 50% (v/v) of ethanol, propanol, and acetonitrile was ineffective. Time-dependent inactivation of immobilized urease, both in the presence and in the absence of urea, revealed stability for longer duration of time even at very high concentration of organic solvents. The soluble enzyme, on the other hand, was rapidly inactivated even at fairly lower concentrations. The results suggest that the immobilization of watermelon urease in calcium alginate make it suitable for its application in organic media. the observations are discussed.