Pollen proteases of Acacia caven (Mol.) Molina for laundry detergents application

Abstract

It is known that the proteases have applications in several industrial processes such us leather processing, laundry detergents, producing of protein hydrolysates and food processing. On the other hand, alkaline proteases have also been used to improve the cleaning efficiency of detergents. Detergent enzymes account for about 30 % of the total worldwide enzyme production and represent one of the largest and most successful applications of modern industrial biotechnology. The aim of this work was to study the performance of proteolytic enzymes of Acacia caven (Mol.) Molina pollen for its potential application as an additive in various laundry detergents formulations. Pollen grains (35 mg/ml) were suspended in 0.1M Tris-HCl buffer pH 7.4 and slowly shaken for 2 h at 25°C. Then, the slurry was centrifugated for 30 min at 8000 rpm and the supernatant (crude enzyme extract, CE) was tested in protein content (Bradford?s method) and proteolytic activity (using BAPNA and Z-Ala-pNO as substrates). A partial characterization of Acacia caven CE was carried out: enzyme extract displayed maximum proteolytic activity at pH 8 and 35-40º C; it showed remarkable thermal stability after 1.5 h at 25-40º C but it decreased as long as temperature increased to 60º C. On the other hand, the enzyme extract was incubated with different surfactants and commercial laundry detergents at 25-60°C during 30 min and 1h; and it showed high stability and compatibility with them. According to the obtained results, this work contributes with a new variety of phytoprotease useful as additive of laundry detergents.