Immobilization of tomato pectinase on Con A-Seralose 4B by bioaffinity layering

Tomato pectinase was immobilized on agarose linked Concanavalin A by successive layering of the lectin and the enzyme. After four layers of the enzyme, the optimum effectiveness factor of 0.73 was obtained. The immobilized enzyme showed slightly higher Vmax/Km (0.4) as compared to free enzyme (0.3). The immobilized enzyme showed enhanced thermal stability at 50 °C, enhanced storage stability at 4 °C and enhanced stability during exposure to 4 M urea. Higher conversion of polygalacturonic acid at 50 °C by the immobilized enzyme as compared to the free enzyme was observed. The immobilized enzyme could be reused three times without any loss in activity.