One-step concentration and partial purification of <i>Aspergillus kawachii</i> non-acidic polygalacturonases by adsorption to glass fiber microfilters

Abstract

The non-acidic polygalacturonases produced by <i>Aspergillus kawachii</i> in a glucose/tryptone medium were adsorbed to a glass fiber microfilter that was used to clarify the fermentation broth. Maximum adsorption occurred at pH 3 under low ionic strength conditions. The adsorbed activity could be readily released with a buffer solution at pH 5. Based upon these observations, a separation process was developed which enabled the broth to be clarified and, at the same time, the non-acidic polygalacturonases to be concentrated 20-fold and purified 100-fold in a unique filtration step. The practical advantage of recovering polygalacturonases by a filtration process lies in the simplicity and efficiency of the operation involved.