Students can study the function of protease in fruit juice using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE)

Abstract

I developed an experiment to study the function of protease from the tissue of an organism. Fruits containing proteolytic enzymes were used as a material because it is difficult to prepare animal digestive juice. For observing protease activity, SDS-PAGE was used, which enables viewing at the molecular level. Using milk as the substrate combined with fruit juice, it was observed that the protein molecular weight reduction progressed with time. In particular, pineapple and kiwi showed remarkable protease activity. This experiment may serve as a teaching material to understand enzyme activity and it can also be used for inquiry activities in “biology” lessons.