Biochemical characterization of a semi-purified aspartic protease from sea catfish Bagre panamensis with milk-clotting activity

Milk clotting enzymes from marine resources and their role in cheese-making: A mini review

With the continual increase in global cheese consumption, rennet, the traditional milk coagulant, is unable to meet the growing demand in cheese production. Although several proteases from other sources have been used for cheese-making, they suffer various shortcomings. The ocean is home to a huge and diverse range of life forms, which represent a vast potential source of proteases. Marine proteases have been isolated from a number of marine species, including sponge, jellyfish, seaweed and marine animals, and some have been shown to be suitable as milk-clotting enzymes for cheese making. This review summarizes the latest studies on rennet substitutes from marine resources and their role in cheese-making. The emphasis of the review is on the isolation and purification of the marine proteases, the biochemical characteristics of these enzymes, especially their caseinolytic and milk-clotting properties, as well as their cleavage sites on casein. Some of the marine proteases have been applied as milk-clotting agent in cheese-making, with the resultant production of cheese with comparable characteristics, including sensory characteristics, to calf rennet cheese. The review concludes by highlighting the challenges and opportunities for future research in the field.

Digestive proteinases from the marine fish processing wastes of the South-West Atlantic Ocean: Their partial characterization and comparison

Fish processing generates plenty of waste that is directly discarded in open-air dumps and water sources, or treated in the same way as urban solid waste, causing serious pollution problems. The waste represents a significant source of high-value bioproducts with potential applications in different industrial processes such as the production of feed, fertilizers, biodiesel and biogas, detergent additives and cosmetics. The objective of this study was to characterize and compare specific activities under different pH values and temperature conditions of acid and alkaline proteinases and viscera yield from the following fish species: Argentine hake Merluccius hubbsi, Brazilian flathead Percophis brasiliensis, Brazilian codling Urophycis brasiliensis and Stripped weakfish Cynoscion guatucupa. Individuals were fished off the coast of Mar del Plata (Argentina) by a commercial fleet and the viscera were immediately extracted and kept on ice until use. Stomach proteinases from four species had the highest activity at pH 2, with stability in the range of pH 2-4. The optimum pH was 11.5 from intestinal enzymes of C. guatucupa, M. hubbsi and P. brasiliensis and 9.5 from intestinal enzymes of U. brasiliensis. Alkaline proteinases from all species were highly stable in the range of 7-11.5. The optimum temperature of stomach proteinases from the four species studied were 30 and 50°C, with stability at 10 and 30°C during 150 min. The optimum temperature of intestinal enzymes from the tested species were 50°C with high stability at 10 and 30°C during 150 min. Alkaline proteinase from all species and acid proteinases from C. guatucupa were inactive at 70°C after 150 min, while there was a residual activity lower than 5% at 80°C on pre-incubated stomach enzymes of M.hubbsi, P. brasiliensis and U. brasiliensis after 5, 10 and 20 min, respectively. Digestive proteinases recovered in this study could be appropriate for technological usage, reducing manufacturing costs, obtaining revenue from fishery wastes, and contributing to the reduction of environmental pollution.