Abstract

The trypsin inhibitor from navy beans (Phaseoulus vulgaris), red kidney beans (Phaseoulus vulgaris L.), and adzuki beans (Vigna angularis) provided by the Royal Project Foundation in Thailand was isolated by heat and ammonium sulfate (AS) precipitation. Incubation at 70 degrees C for 10 min produced the highest trypsin inhibitor recovery for all legumes. The AS precipitation with 60% to 80% saturation (precipitate IV) resulted in 41-, 88-, and 34-fold of the purity and (-)26%, 126%, and (-)47% of percentage of activity increase for navy beans, red kidney beans, and adzuki beans, respectively. The trypsin inhibitors had a molecular weight of 132 kDa for navy beans, 118 kDa for red kidney beans, and 13 kDa for adzuki beans under nonreducing conditions. The obtained precipitate IV fraction from each legume effectively prevented the degradation of the tilapia muscle with concentration dependent. The myosin heavy chain increased as the concentration of the inhibitor fraction increased, especially at the highest level of addition. The result indicated that the precipitate IV from these legumes have potential for use as a protease inhibitor in fishery related products.