Extraction of bromelain from pineapple (Ananas comosus) by-products and its application in food processing

Abstract

Bromelain is a complex of proteolytic enzyme obtained from pineapple (Ananas comosus) fruits and stem, has been used as tenderizing agents in food processing, as an anti-inflammatory agent in pharmaceuticals, as tools that promise an impressive number of medical and therapeutic uses and dietary supplements and analgesics. This paper describes the practice of developing process to extract bromelain from pineapple fruit. Bromelain was obtained by the ethanol precipitation and ammonium sulfate precipitation methods combining with freeze drying for getting bromelain powder form. The enzymatic activity of the bromelain powder was measured using modified Anson method. Ethanol precipitation method at 70% (vol/vol) was chosen for studies later. Bromelain was extracted from different parts of both green and ripe pineapple fruit for examining which section has highest enzymatic activity and the potential bromelain production of other parts. The highest activity was found in the green bud. The process for bromelain extraction from pineapple bud using precipitation at 70% (vol/vol) and then lyophilization was constructed. Bromelain powder was obtained with the moisture 10%, the enzymatic activity of 205.46 (U/g bromelain) and stored in moisture-proof containers within 1.5 months at cool temperature condition (8C). Finally, bromelain powder was applied on beef for meat tenderizing. Key words: Bromelain, Ananas comosus, precipitation, extraction, enzymatic activity.