CLARIFICATION TREATMENTS OF PINEAPPLE (Malus domestica) AND ORANGE (Citrus sinensis) JUICES BY PECTINASE FROM Yarrowia lipolytica STRAINS IDENTIFIED FROM COCOA JUICE IN FERMENTATION

Background: Pectinases are a group of enzymes that break down pectin, a polysaccharide that is found in plant cell walls. Today, the application of pectinolytic enzymes plays an important role in food technology for the maceration of fruits and vegetables, including for the extraction and clarification of juice.

Aim of the Study: This study aimed to test the clarifying ability of pectinase of three Yarrowia lipolytica strains (Tias J0-6; YA J3-1; Buy J2-1) identified for cocoa juice in fermentation.

Materials and Methods: The pectinase from Yarrowia lipolytica strains (Tias J0-6; YA J3-1; Buy J2-1) were produced using a basic liquid medium and partially purified through ion exchange chromatography. The fruit juices were clarified by enzymatic treatments against a control (free enzymatic treatment juice) and physicochemical and phytochemical parameters and antioxidant activities of the clarified juices were determined.

Results: The results revealed that from three strains, Tias J0-6 strain produced pectinase which showed the best clarification activity on pineapple and orange juices. The juices clarified exhibited an increasing of clarity values and decreasing viscosity and pH values. Thus, pectinase of Tias J0-6 allowed increasing clarity to 41.81% and 7.27%, to decrease viscosity up to 14.03% and 6.55% respectively for pineapple juices and orange juices clarified. The pH values decreased from 4.036±00 to 4.031±00 and from 5.010±00 to 4.592±00 respectively for orange and pineapple juices. The antioxidant activities of juices clarified were strongly correlated to total tannins and total flavonoids (r = 0.717, r = 0.754, r = 0.855).

Conclusion: Tias J0-6 strain seemed a suitable candidate to biotechnology applications such as fruit juices clarification.