Stabilization of papain from papaya peels / Estabilización de la papaína de la cáscara de papaya

Abstract

Crude papain in papaya peels was stabilized before drying by the addition of various chemicals (ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate, erythorbic acid, sodium erythorbate, sodium metabisulfite, sodium tetrathionate, 4-hexylresorcinol, t-butyl hydroquinone [TBHQ], rutin, α-tocopherol, trehalose, and sucrose). Chemicals were added to the ground papaya peels at 0, 0.12, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.25, and 1.5% (w /w). Drying temperatures were 40, 55 and 60 °C. Enzyme activity was measured before and after drying by the casein digestion method. Percentage of enzyme activity retained (% EAR) was calculated by assigning a value of 100% EAR to fresh peels. Possible synergism between chemicals was also studied for a 1:1 ratio chemical/chemical at 1% total concentration. The highest % EAR was obtained at 55 °C for all chemicals except for sucrose and trehalose which showed their best effect at 40 °C. TBHQ rutin, α-tocopherol and 4-hexylresorcinol showed a destabilizing effect. Maximum protective effect occurred at 1% concentration. At this concentration sodium tetrathionate showed the best protective effect (90% EAR) followed by sodium metabisulfite (85% EAR), while both sodium ascorbate and sodium erythorbate retained 75% of the original activity. Ascorbic acid and erythorbic acid were 10% less effective than their corresponding sodium salts, possibly due to lower pH. Trehalose showed only 57 % EAR while sucrose failed to produce any appreciable effect. No synergistic effect was shown by any combination of chemicals.