Isolation and Characterisation of Protease and Beta Amylase for Tiger Nut (Cyperus esculentus) Milk Shelf Life Improvement

Abstract

Protease is a well-known plant enzyme, used widely in the field of medicine and industry. However, these enzymes serve as a catalyst in some foods leading to spoilage. The study is aimed at isolation and characterization of protease and beta amylase for the improvement of shelf life and quality of tiger nut milk. Protease and beta amylase from Cyperus esculentus milk were partially purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation, dialysis, sephadex G-100 gel filtration and DEAE Cellulose chromatography. The purification fold and yield for protease were 2.4 and 33.2%, while that of beta amylase were 2.5 and 29.90%. The optimum activities of the partially purified protease and beta amylase were observed at 80oC and at pH 8, while that of beta amylase were observed at 70oC and pH 6. The molecular weight of the partially purified protease enzymes was 16KDA while that of beta amylase was 46 KDA by SDS PAGE.