Purification and Characterization of a Protease from Korean Pear (Pyrus serotina L.) as Meat Tenderizer

This study was conducted for the isolation, purification, and characterization of a protease from Korean pear, to see its proteolytic activity on chicken actomyosin and to find the optimum pH and temperature of activity on chicken actomyosin. The protease was isolated from crude extract of Korean pear by ammonium sulfate precipitation. Further purification was done by DEAE-Sepharose ion-exchange chromatography, Mono-Q and Mini-Q column chromatography. The purified enzyme gave a single protein band on SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and the molecular weight was found to be 38 kDa. The specific activity of purified enzyme was 34,907 unit/mg with 25 fold purification and the yield was 2%. The purified enzyme incubated with chicken actomyosin showed high activity. The optimum pH and temperature for enzyme activity on chicken actomyosin were 6.5 and $70^{\circ}C$, respectively. A protease was purified from Korean pear for the first time and characterized. It was found to be promising for meat tenderization.