Characterization of bromelain indicates a molar excess of inhibitor vs. enzyme molecules, a Jacalin-like lectin and Maillard reaction products

Abstract The phytotherapeutic bromelain is a heterogeneous protein mixture, extracted from pineapple stem, with high proteolytic activity based on cysteine proteases. Its global protein chemical composition was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively by SDS-PAGE and RP-HPLC. A SDS-PAGE method with elaborate sample pretreatment was developed, to cope with the bromelain's self-digestion properties and the hypothetical disulfide scrambling during electrophoresis. Both can produce misleading results, if not considered. RP-HPLC was applied for its high separation power for bromelain proteinaceous compounds. A peak identification and assignment to different protein classes in bromelain was done by enzyme kinetics and MS. The method was successfully applied for the quantitative determination of the molar ratio between inhibitor and enzyme and resulted to be approximately 3:2. Bromelain contains, from a molar point of view, inhibitor molecules as major component, which thus might be considered as a natural pharmaceutical excipient in Bromelain, because it protects the enzymes against autolysis. We described two methods to separate the inhibitor fraction from the enzyme fraction, RP-HPLC and size exclusion chromatography. A pineapple derived Jacalin-like-lectin, herein called ‘Anlec’, was identified and quantified by RP-HPLC-MS in bromelain and its content was determined to be 5%, related to all proteins in bromelain. Anlec binds specifically to mannose-containing glycans and is discussed in literature to possess anti-HIV medical potential. Bromelain could therefore be a possible and economic source for the production of Anlec. An isolation strategy of Anlec from bromelain, in high purity, is shown in this work. The presented RP-HPLC results are comprehensive in chemical information, and the method is expedient to provide appropriate bromelain protein isolations but also to accomplish quality control, covering all relevant protein components. It is furthermore shown, that proteins in bromelain may react with reducing sugars in a Maillard reaction to form glycated proteins. Maillard reaction products in bromelain are detected and characterized and could be responsible for the limited stability and storage times at room temperature of bromelain. Even the active center thiol group could be potentially glycated.