Partial purification and characterization of polyphenol oxidase from persimmon

• Polyphenol oxidase from “Rojo Brillante” persimmon fruits has been characterized.
• Maximum enzyme activity was reached at pH 5.5 and 55 °C.
• PPO stability decreased sharply at pH 4.0, even at 60 °C.
• At least four PPO isoforms from the “Rojo Brillante” variety were detected.

Activity of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) from “Rojo Brillante” persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.) fruits was characterized. Crude extracts were used for characterization of enzyme activity and stability at different temperatures (60, 70 and 80 °C), pHs (from 3.5 to 7.5) and substrate concentrations (catechol from 0 to 0.5 M). Maximum enzyme activity was reached at pH 5.5 and 55 °C. Enzyme stability was higher than PPO activities found in other natural sources, since above pH 5.5 the minimum time needed to achieve an enzyme inactivation of 90% was 70 min at 80 °C. However, at pH 4.0 the enzyme stability decreased, reaching inactivation levels above 90% after 10 min even at 60 °C. Thus it was concluded that acidification can circumvent browning problems caused by PPO activity. Moreover, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the enriched extract revealed the presence of at least four bands with strong oxidase activity, suggesting the existence of different PPO isoforms.