Preliminary studies on βeta-amylase from syzygium cumini fruits of south India

New usages of old crops hold promise to restore the balance of trade reduce our dependence on imports and to meet the growing needs of industrial products of human population. Fruit plants are playing a vital role in providing nutritional and economical security to the poor mass in rural areas. There are many plants still underexploited and unexplored. Jamun (Syzygium cumini) is an important fruit crop belongs to family Myrtaceae. It is an underutilised indigenous fruit tree of South India. The present study was an attempt to exploit Syzygium cumini as a new plant source of choice for beta amylase enzyme for industrial production because the enzyme is abundant in the fruits, which allows for relatively low cost production. Beta amylase was extracted from Syzygium cumini fruits and was successfully immobilised in calcium alginate beads. The pH optima for free and immobilised beta amylases were found to be 6.5 and 6.8 respectively, time of incubation in the range of 15-20 minutes, optimum substrate concentration in the range of 0.5 % - 1.25% and optimum temperature were 400C for free and 450 C for immobilised beta amylases activities.