Physico-Chemical Properties of Pineapple Crown Extract Variety N36 and Bromelain Activity in Different Forms

Abstract The purpose of this study is to produce bromelain powder from crown extract of pineapple variety N36. The physico- chemical properties of the pineapple crown extract were initially determined. It was found that the percentage of pulp, pH, TSS, percentage of acidity, percentage of fructose and glucose of the pineapple crown extract were 2.41%, 3.94, 1.6˚Brix, 0.3%, 0.83% and 0.51%, respectively. In this study, the pineapple crown extract was prepared by food processor before being filtered using muslin cloth. The bromelain in the pineapple crown extract was then purified by Preparative High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) (Agilent) using cation exchange resin column. Subsequently, the salt in the purified bromelain was removed by diafiltration process using continous diafiltrator. Finally, the desalted bromelain solution was dried using freeze dryer (Christ alpha 1-4LD Plus model). It was determined that 1.0 g of bromelain powder could be produced from 200 ml of desalted bromelain solution or formerly 100 g pineapple crown. The bromelain activity at each step towards producing of powdered bromelain was determined. It was found that bromelain activity was significantly highest in powdered bromelain (529.77 ± 5.74 CDU/mg) at the 5% level followed by purified bromelain (501.08 ± 3.31 CDU/mg), desalted bromelain (485.78 ± 8.76 CDU/mg) and pineapple crown extract (426.49 ± 8.76 CDU/mg).