Papain
Papain questions and answers
Learn more about Papain at Diet & Health.net.
Q: Could you tell me the exact physical color of papain? Is there a simple and inexpensive way to extract papain?
Please tell me the processes on extracting papain using only home apparatuses. I have read that it can be used as a flocculant in treating water and because of this I have my eyes on this papain enzyme. I asked the color of papain because I think it will change the color of the water when mixed. Could the resulting water be potable?
A: I don't think you can extract this in an inexpensive manner. Plus you need papaya trees.
Papain is usually produced as a crude, dried material by collecting the latex from the fruit of the papaya tree. The latex is collected after scoring the neck of the fruit where it may either dry on the fruit or drip into a container. This latex is then further dried. It is now classified as a dried, crude material. A purification step is necessary to remove contaminating substances. This purification consists of the solubilization and extraction of the active papain enzyme system through a government registered process. This purified papain may be supplied as powder or as liquid.
Q: Are there papain in the seed of papaya?
i need to use the seed of papaya in our research because i believe that there is papain in that part of papaya... am i correct?
A: Papain is usually produced as a crude, dried material by collecting the latex from the fruit of the papaya tree.
The latex is collected after scoring the neck of the fruit where it may either dry on the fruit or drip into a container.
This latex is then further dried. It is now classified as a dried, crude material.
A purification step is necessary to remove contaminating substances.
This purification consists of the solubilization and extraction of the active papain enzyme system through a government registered process.
This purified papain may be supplied as powder or as liquid.
Its utility is in breaking down the tough meat fibers and has been utilized for thousands of years in its native South America. It is sold as a component in powdered meat tenderizer available in most supermarkets. Papain, in the form of a meat tenderizer such as Adolph's, made into a paste with water, is also a home remedy treatment for jellyfish, bee, yellow jacket (wasps) stings and possibly stingray wounds, breaking down the protein toxins in the venom.
Use of the Enzyme
Papain is used to dissociate cells in the first step of cell culture preparations. A 10 minute treatment of small tissue pieces (less than 1 mm cubed) will allow papain to begin breaking down the extracellular matrix molecules holding the cells together. After 10 minutes, the tissue should be treated with a protease inhibitor solution to stop the protease action (if left untreated papain's activity will lead to complete lysis of the cells). The tissue must then be triturated (passed quickly up and down through a Pasteur pipette) in order to break up the pieces of tissue into a single cell suspension.
It is also used as an ingredient in various enzymatic debriding preparations, notably Accuzyme. These are used in the care of some chronic wounds to clean up dead tissue.
It can also be found as ingredient in some toothpastes or mints as teeth-whitener. It's whitening effect in toothpastes and mints however is minimal, because the papain is present in low concentrations, and will be quickly diluted by saliva. It would take several months of using the whitening product to have noticable whiter teet.
There is no reference of papain being present in the seeds of Papaya.
Q: How does papain help the digestion of protein?
A: It's a protease, much like trypsin, elastase, chymotrypsin, etc. It cuts protein chains at specific amino acid sequences. I can't remember the specific sequence though
Q: What is the best experiement to determine the components of papaya? Do yellow papayas have papain?
A: Originally from southern Mexico, Central America and northern South America, the papaya is now cultivated in most countries with a tropical climate like India and the Philippines.
The primary use of the papaya is as an edible fruit. It is usually eaten raw, without the skin or seeds. The unripe green fruit of papaya can be eaten cooked usually in curries, salads and stews.
Papaya is rich in an enzyme called papain (a protease which is useful in tenderizing meat) and other proteins. Its utility is in breaking down the tough meat fibers and it has been utilized for thousands of years in its native South America. It is included as a component in powdered meat tenderizers. Papaya enzyme is also marketed in tablet form to remedy digestive problems. Caution should be taken when harvesting, as papaya is known to release a latex fluid when not quite ripe, which can cause irritation and provoke allergic reaction in some people. The papaya fruit and leaves also contains carpaine, an anthelmintic alkaloid which could be dangerous in high doses.
Women in India and Sri Lanka and other parts of the world have long used papaya as a folk remedy for contraception and abortion. Medical research in animals has confirmed the contraceptive and abortifacient capability of papaya, and also found that papaya has contraceptive effects in men as well. Unripe papaya is especially effective, in large amounts or high doses. Papaya is not teratogenic and will not cause miscarriage in small, ripe amounts. Phytochemicals in papaya may suppress the effects of progesterone.
The black seeds are edible, and have a sharp, spicy taste. They are sometimes ground up and used as a substitute for black pepper. In some parts of Asia the young leaves of papaya are steamed and eaten like spinach.
Excessive consumption of papaya, like of carrots, can cause carotenemia, the yellowing of soles and palms which is otherwise harmless.
Q: what are the list of materials needed in isolating papain from papaya?
i need this for my research project!
A: You might try the paper by Balls and Lineweaver; "The isolation and properties of crystalline papain", a PDF reprint can be found here: http://www.jbc.org/cgi/reprint/130/2/669
A slightly newer paper (but both are pretty old) is the one by Kimmel and Smith, "Crystalline papain. I. preparation, specificity and activation". Again a reprint is available from jbc.org http://www.jbc.org/cgi/reprint/207/2/515
A more modern method seems to be "affinity chromatography"
A paper about it;
Title: A two-step procedure for purification of papain from extract of papaya latex
Author(s): Burke, David E.
Lewis, Sidney D.
Shafer, Jules A.
can be found here: http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/22283
Another method,
Purification of papain from Carica papaya latex: Aqueous two-phase extraction versus two-step salt precipitation
Sarote Nitsawang a, Rajni Hatti-Kaul b,∗, Pawinee Kanasawuda
can be found here: http://www.aseanbiotechnology.info/Abstract/23005916.pdf
You should probably read it yourself, but a quick list of materials would be: Fresh (or frozen, but apparently not dried for this method) papaya latex, HCI, NaOH, ammonium persulfate and PEG 6000, a centrifuge and other typical laboratory equipent
Of course using an internet search engine (which is what I did, until today I knew nothing about isolating papain) you can find more information
Q: Can i get papain from Papaya leaf extract?
We have a research which involves the variable papain and we want to extract papain from leaves not from the fruit because it is very time consuming.Can you suggest a procedure to extract papain from papaya leaf extract?
A: You most certainly can.. the papaya leaf is a great source for obtaining papain.
Sorry but I do not know the exact procedure for extraction of the milky latex of papain and extracting papain but I think it is a process using chromatography on SP-streamline
I do not know where one can go to get the exact information on this.. Sorry
Q: I need an experment to investigate the affect of tempreture on enzyme of papain?
A: Papain ( concentrate ) has a temperature optimum range of 65 to 80C. The enzyme is extremely temperature stable in comparison to other proteases. Effective activity is demonstrated over the temperature range of 10 to 90C. Temperatures above 90C rapidly inactivate the enzyme.
Optimum Temperature Range 65 - 80C
Effective Temperature Range Up to 90C
http://www.deerland-enzymes.com/enzymes.php?id=45
Chapter "Enzyme activity" on this site shows two methods for analysis of papain enzyme activity:
http://practicalaction.org/practicalanswers/product_info.php?products_id=355
Q: How much papain is found in the papaya leaves?
A: 2%
Q: How much papain is found in the papaya fruit?
A: As we know.. Papain, or vegetable pepsin as it is sometimes called, is a mixture of proteolytic enzymes with a fairly broad spectrum of activity; it hydrolyzes not only proteins but small peptides, amides, and some esters as well. Other components of the crude enzyme mixture hydrolyze both carbohydrates and fats. This is found, of course, to a small extent in therilpe fruit but to a larger extent in the green fruit, LEAVES and the SKIN of the Papaya.
Unfortunately, I can find no statistics on the actual content of papain in the papaya fruit.. An added note: Most of the papaya never reaches the market place because it is marketed while it is still green and the papain is extracted and used for vitamin pills, creams for women beauty products, etc. It is also used as a meat tenderizer.
When I was in Africa, the meat we purchased was VERY tough and I used papaya pieces to RUB onto the meat and let it tenderize the meat for a couple of hours in order to tenderize it.
Q: The papaya enzyme (papain) makes a good meat tenderizer,. Does it also takes effect on vegetable?
A: Yes because it doesn't work directly on Protine... It works on the Peptide Bonds and attacks the carbonyl carbon of the peptide backbone.
If you leave ANYTHING with Papain for long enough, it will break down into mush...
It is just REALLY pointless to try and use it on veggies when 99% of all veggies just need a good cooking to soften them up.
It won't make them "Soft" in the palatable since... It will make them MUSH...
You can keep papaya in a salsa for a few hours but if you apply heat, you will end up with an unappetizing goo... Stick to pairing it with pork... That is the best way to utilize it's properties...
I learned all this by watching Good Eats with Alton Brown on Food Network... Check out his food network website... TONS of good recipes.
Q: What will be more effective papaya leaf extract or simply papain?
A: More effective for what??
I would think papain, as it may be more concentrated than the extract, but I'm not certain.
Q: What is the substrate for the enzyme papain?
Thanks
A: Protein.
Q: I want tio know how papain enzyme can soften or tenderiz meat?
A: Lots of info here on the papain enzyme, extraction and uses including how it works.
http://www.enzymeindia.com/enzymes/papain.asp
Q: in what part of the papaya tree will u find the most abundant amount of papain?
pls coz i really need this for my research proj....thanks
A: Papain is contained in the latex ( = milky sap of the tree) of the papaya plant.
Q: Does anybody know how to get Papain?
Actually, i read something about Papain that it is an effective coagulant.. and i'm wondering if i can choose it for my research topic about water treatment... but, the problem is, i don't know how to get papain... can anybody help me please?
thank you very much!
i mean, how can i extract papain? and what part of the papaya plant where i can get Papain? please....
A: Papain is a cysteine protease (EC 3.4.22.2) present in papaya (Carica papaya) which is useful in tenderizing meat and other proteins.
USES
Its utility is in breaking down the tough meat fibers and has been utilized for thousands of years in its native South America. It is sold as a component in powdered meat tenderizer available in most supermarkets. Papain, in the form of a meat tenderizer such as Adolph's, made into a paste with water, is also a home remedy treatment for jellyfish, bee, yellow jacket (wasps) stings and possibly stingray wounds, breaking down the protein toxins in the venom.
Papain is used to dissociate cells in the first step of cell culture preparations. A 10 minute treatment of small tissue pieces (less than 1 mm cubed) will allow papain to begin breaking down the extracellular matrix molecules holding the cells together. After 10 minutes, the tissue should be treated with a protease inhibitor solution to stop the protease action (if left untreated papain's activity will lead to complete lysis of the cells). The tissue must then be triturated (passed quickly up and down through a Pasteur pipette) in order to break up the pieces of tissue into a single cell suspension.
It is also used as an ingredient in various enzymatic debriding preparations, notably Accuzyme. These are used in the care of some chronic wounds to clean up dead tissue.
It can also be found as ingredient in some toothpastes or mints as teeth-whitener. It's whitening effect in toothpastes and mints however is minimal, because the papain is present in low concentrations, and will be quickly diluted by saliva. It would take several months of using the whitening product to have noticable whiter teeth.
PRODUCTION
Papain is usually produced as a crude, dried material by collecting the latex from the fruit of the papaya tree. The latex is collected after scoring the neck of the fruit where it may either dry on the fruit or drip into a container. This latex is then further dried. It is now classified as a dried, crude material. A purification step is necessary to remove contaminating substances. This purification consists of the solubilization and extraction of the active papain enzyme system through a government registered process. This purified papain may be supplied as powder or as liquid.
enzyme present in the milky juice of the papaya that catalyzes the breakdown of proteins by hydrolysis (addition of a water molecule). Papain is used in biochemical research involving the analysis of proteins, in preparations of various remedies for indigestion, in tenderizing meat, and in enzyme-action cleansing agents for soft contact lenses.