| Grant number: | 11/20733-7 |
| Support type: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |
| Effective date (Start): | March 01, 2012 |
| Effective date (End): | February 29, 2016 |
| Field of knowledge: | Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Industrial Operations and Equipment for Chemical Engineering |
| Principal Investigator: | Elias Basile Tambourgi |
| Grantee: | Diego de Freitas Coêlho |
| Home Institution: | Faculdade de Engenharia Química (FEQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil |
| Associated scholarship(s): | 13/11395-6 - Use of countercurrent chromatography applied on aqueous two-phase systems for purify bromelain from agroindustrial wastes, BE.EP.DR |
Abstract Bromelain is the general name given to the group of endopeptidases found in pineapple (Ananas comosus) and curauá (Ananas erectifolius) as well as all proteases derived from members of the family Bromeliaceae. Due to its important physiological role, these enzymes offer a wide spectrum of proven therapeutic applications (anti-inflammatory, anticancer and fibrinolytic activities; reduction of healing time, increase of cardiorespiratory fitness, etc), besides being used for the meat processing in food industries. For industrial production of bromelain, the pineapple processing wastes should be preferentially used (as well as for the curauá), once in these there are large amounts of target molecule and its main products (i.e., fruit and juice from pineapple and fibers from curauá) have high commercial value.Therefore, the study of bromelain extraction from agroindustrial wastes, using aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) can be an interesting alternative for its purification and production. Besides, water is the largest constituent in these systems, between 70% and 90%, and offers a pleasant enough environment, preserving the molecular stability of biomolecules. Additionally, annular centrifugal contactors are little studied in Brazil, but they offer superior performance and efficiency to those obtained in conventional equipment. Therefore, studies that aim to purify the bromelain from waste, with the use of methods and processes unconventional, with the objective of its commercialization for the pharmaceutical industry are highly promising in terms of science and technology. | |