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The survey on the chitinolytic activity of some plants was performed for the purpose of obtaining some reliable and inexpensive sources of chitinase. Rice, soybean for sprouting, kiwi fruit, almond and crude papain were investigated. Rice bran, seed coat of the soybean and the pericarp of kiwi fruit showed a considerable activity, while the bean after the removal of the seed coat, the mixture of rice integument and endosperm, polished rice, and defatted soybean powder didn´t have any detectable activity. These crude enzymes have shown to contain both endo- and exochitinase activity. The effects of pH and temperature on the enzyme activity were variable. Furthermore we have observed the chitosanolytic activity from these enzyme preparations. The rice bran had the highest activity in the enzymatic degradation of chitosan, and seed coat of soybean and the pericarp of kiwi fruit followed. On the basis of the fact that crude papain was not only commercially available but also the most potent in the endochitinase activity and the lowest in the exochitinase activity, we could conclude that crude papain was considered as the most suitable source of the chitinase among plants studied in this paper. In addition, rice bran was worth further investigation from the point of utilizing agricultural by-product.
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