Abstract
Polygalacturonases (PGs) are necessary to degrade the insoluble viscous pectin components during the clarification process of fruit juice and are produced by some plants and various microbes, such as bacteria, yeasts and fungi. In this study, an exo-polygalacturonase (exo-PGP4a) was purified from T. Pseudokoningii using DEAE-Sepharose and Sephacryl S-200 columns. We show that the enzyme produced in this study by solid-state fermentation of citrus Orange peel was purified 20-fold with 12.8% recovery. The apparent molecular mass of the enzyme was determined to be 25 kDa using gel filtration and SDS-PAGE. The optimum temperature and pH of the exo-PGP4a were 45and#176;C and 6, respectively. The exo-PGP4a showed half-lives of 50.95 and 21.32 min at 55 and 75and#176;C, respectively. The activation energy for denaturation (Ea*) was 42.596 kJ/mol. The Km value of the enzyme for PGA hydrolysis was 2 mg/ml, and the Vmax was 3.27 and#181;mol min-1 mg-1. Several metal cations, such as Cu2+and Zn2+, were found to enhance the enzymatic activity of the exo-PGP4a, while Pb2+, Ca2+, Ni2+, Cd2+, Co2+ and Hg2+ ions were found to be inhibitory. In this study, we suggest the exo-polygalacturonase has potential role of the clarification of Orange, Apple, Grape, and Peach juices in the food industry.