Activity of Polyphenoloxidase in red Fuji Apples Promoted with Cationic Surfactant – Role of Surfactant Structure

In this study, we observed the activity of polyphenoloxidase (PPO) in red Fuji apples in the presence of single-chained surfactants (including cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), and dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB)) and gemini surfactants (pentamethylene-α,ω-bis(dodecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide), octamethylene-α,ω-bis(dodecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide, dodecamethylene-α,ω-bis(dodecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide), pentamethylene-α,ω-bis(cetyl dimethyl ammonium bromide), and octamethylene-α,ω-bis(cetyl dimethyl ammonium bromide)). It was found that all these surfactants enhanced the activity of PPO in a wide range of temperature at low content. When PPO was denatured by incubating at high temperature, the surfactants caused reactivation of PPO. Compared to the single-chained surfactants, the gemini surfactants increased PPO activity at a much lower concentration. Moreover, the single-chained surfactant and the gemini surfactant acted together to further increase PPO activity, and the synergistic effect reduced the amount of surfactant used. In addition, the Michaelis-Menten constant for PPO did not change in the presence of the surfactants, suggesting the active site should remain well with the surfactants.