Inactivación térmica de pectinmetilesterasa en tomate de árbol (solanum betaceum)

Abstract

The effect of batch thermal processing on the residual activity of pectinmethylesterase enzyme (PME) in tree tomato (Solanum betaceum) was studied. Batch processes were conducted at temperatures between 40 and 90°C and exposure times from 5 to 20s. Residual enzyme activity was spectrophotometrically measured at 620 nm wavelength. The protein content was determined according to Bradford́s dye binding method. The thermal treatment applied to 60°C for 20 seconds exposure time, reduced the residual activity of PME to 10% avoiding phase separation. It is concluded that the thermal treatment applied caused a decrease on enzyme content to 28% from initial content.