Pectinases or pectinolytic enzymes are one of the upcoming commercial enzymes that are produced by higher plants and microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, yeasts. These enzymes have a wide range of industrial applications including fruit processing, tea and coffee fermentation, in paper and textile, waste water treatment and plant oil extraction. Pectins are complex polysaccharides which present in cell wall of plants and degraded by pectinase to simple substances such as galacturonic acid. Because of the vast industrial applications of pectinases, all over the world many groups are searching to find new efficient methods for purification and immobilization of pectinase. In line with other attempts, here the efficiency of chitosan-PVA magnetic beads for purification of P. indica produced pectinase was evaluated. Sugar beet pulp (SBP) as a by-product of sugar factory was used to induce production of pectinase by P. indica in submerged fermentation. For this reason, P. indica was cultured on Kaefer medium supplemented with SBP. The slurry was filtered by centrifugation at 10,000 rpm at 4 ºC for 15 min. Then the supernatant was incubated with chitosan-PVA magnetic beads at 4 ºC overnight with continues shaking. The enzyme was desorbed from magnetic beads by 0.5 mM CaCl2 (PH= 5.9). The protein content of samples was determined by Bradford assay. Based on the results, the protein content of the solutions treated with chitosan-PVA magnetic beads was increased significantly. In conclusion, chitosan-PVA magnetic beads could be a good candidate to purify pectinase, but further optimization is required.
