Purification and Some Properties of Chitinase from Momordica charantia

Chitinase was purified from Momordica charantia L. by affinity chromatography. The purified enzyme showed single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamicle gel electrophoresis and the molecular weight was estimated as 35 kD. The enzyme was stable at temperatures up to 50℃ or less than 10 % loss of activity in 1 h. Its optimum temperature was about 45 ℃. Its suitable pH had a rather wide range from pH 4.4 to pH 6.8 and the optimum pH was about 6.2. The activity of the enzyme was similar in root and stem. In the lower leaves,the activity was higher than that of the upper.