Milk-clotting

agents belonging to these three classes of enzymes have been reported. Corrons, Bertucci, Liggieri, López, and Bruno (2012) reported the presence of serine proteases with caseinolytic and milk-clotting activities in latex of Maclura pomifera fruits. Also, it has been shown that religiosin B is a serine protease ( Kumari et al., Y 27632 2012). Cysteine proteases from B. hieronymi fruits with milk-clotting ability were also described ( Bruno et al., 2010). Chymosin and milk-clotting enzymes from C. cardunculus flowers and Strebus aspler twigs are aspartic proteases ( Heimgartner et al., 1990, Llorente et al., 2004 and Senthilkumar et al., 2006). M. oleifera flowers contain caseinolytic and milk-clotting selleck chemical activities. The data showed that PP contains a mixture of aspartic, cysteine, serine and Ca2+-dependent proteases. Caseinolytic and milk clotting activities showed slightly different sensitivities to pH treatment. A heat dependent activation of proteolytic activities from PP was also demonstrated. From the perspective of food treatment and engineering, PP is a new source of proteases with potential use for cheese production, since it promotes extensive hydrolysis of κ-casein and low degradation of αs- and β-caseins. The authors express their gratitude to the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for research grants and fellowships (RSB, LCBBC and PMGP),

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) and Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco (FACEPE)

for research grants. E.V. Pontual and B.E.A. Carvalho would like to thank FACEPE for graduate scholarships. T.H. Napoleão would like to thank CAPES for graduate scholarship. We thank Maria Barbosa Reis da Silva and João Antônio Virgínio for technical assistance and Felix Nonnenmacher for English editing. “
“Pumpkins, which are the fruits of different species Selleckchem Verteporfin of the genus Cucurbita, are cultivated worldwide for their pulp and seeds for human nutrition, either for direct consumption or for preparation of other foods such as syrups, jellies, jams, and purees. According to estimations by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), world production of pumpkins in 2007 was over 20 million tons, especially in China, India, Russia, United States, and Egypt ( FAOSTAT, 2008). Pumpkin pulp has large amounts of carotenoids, which are pigments that derive from isoprene and that give flowers, leaves, and fruits a colouration that ranges from yellow to red (Oliver & Palou, 2000). Besides the pro-vitamin A activity of some carotenoids, such as β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin and α-carotene, studies have also indicated that consumption of carotenoids lowers the risk of degenerative and cardiovascular diseases, cataracts, macular degeneration as well as certain types of carcinomas (Rao & Rao, 2007).