Calotropis procera (Sodom apple) -: a potential material for enzyme purification

A simple method based on precipitation with Calotropis procera latex was developed for the purification of crude enzyme from fermentation broth. C procera latex (10(-2) dilution), clarified and, concentrated the crude amylase of Aspergillus Oryzae 4-fold with 97% recovery of the initial amylase activity in the filtrate in a single step operation. The latex was stable at pH less than or equal to 4.5 and there was no significant difference (P less than or equal to 0.05) in the purification potential of the latex at 4 and 28 degreesC. This method could prove useful to developing economies of the tropics where ambient temperature is around 28 degreesC. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.