Purification of Amylase from Honey

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The major amylase in honey was concentrated by ultrafiltration, isolated by ultracentrifugation and gel filtration, and purified by ion‐exchange chromatography. The amylase activity was in the flow‐through fraction of the anion‐exchange column, suggesting a high isoelectric point (>7.4) for the enzyme. The enzyme fraction from the anion‐exchange chromatography was loaded onto a cation‐exchange column, and the amylase activity was eluted as a single band at 50 mM NaCl. The purification factor after this step was 531‐fold. The purified enzyme was an a‐amylase, as determined by thin‐layer chromatography, with a molecular weight of 57000 Da according to sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS‐PAGE). The results supported the concept that amylase in honey had a high degree of similarity with bee amylase.