The separation of pectinlyase from β‐glucosidase in a commercial preparation

This paper describes a new, simple and inexpensive procedure for separating pectinlyase (PL, EC 4.2.2.3) from β‐glucosidase (β‐glu, EC 3.2.1.21), both of which have potential for use in the beverage processing industry. The method described here, which entails the treatment of crude preparations with bentonite (4% (w/v)) and the acidification of the resulting supernatant to pH 3·5, leads to the production of two enzymic solutions which contain PL and β‐glu, respectively. In both solutions the amount of brown pigment is considerably less than in the crude mixture, and partial purification from extraneous proteins is also achieved.