Hydrolysis of chitin by Pectinex™

It has been shown that a commercially available pectinase, Pectinex™, hydrolyzes chitin fairly efficiently with a Km of 2.2 mg ml−1 of chitin and Vmax equal to 6.5 nmol min−1 mg−1. The pH optimum range (5.0–6.0) and temperature optimum range (55–65 °C) for this unusual activity are more in agreement with the corresponding known values for chitinases rather than the values observed in case of its pectinase activity. The half lives (of chitinolytic activity) of 81 and 76 min at 55 and 65 °C indicate that the chitinolytic activity survives much better that the pectinase activity of the molecule. The occurrence of a carboxyl group in both pectinases and chitinases suggests that similar active site designs may be responsible for this unusual and useful activity of Pectinex™.