Actinopyga lecanora Hydrolysates as Natural Antibacterial Agents

Abstract

Actinopyga lecanora, a type of sea cucumber commonly known as stone fish with relatively high protein content, was explored as raw material for bioactive peptides production. Six proteolytic enzymes, namely alcalase, papain, pepsin, trypsin, bromelain and flavourzyme were used to hydrolyze A. lecanora at different times and their respective degrees of hydrolysis (DH) were calculated. Subsequently, antibacterial activity of the A. lecanora hydrolysates, against some common pathogenic Gram positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Pseudomonas sp.) were evaluated. Papain hydrolysis showed the highest DH value (89.44%), followed by alcalase hydrolysis (83.35%). Bromelain hydrolysate after one and seven hours of hydrolysis exhibited the highest antibacterial activities against Pseudomonas sp., P. aeruginosa and E. coli at 51.85%, 30.07% and 30.45%, respectively compared to the other hydrolysates. Protein hydrolysate generated by papain after 8 h hydrolysis showed maximum antibacterial activity against S. aureus at 20.19%. The potent hydrolysates were further fractionated using RP-HPLC and antibacterial activity of the collected fractions from each hydrolysate were evaluated, wherein among them only three fractions from the bromelain hydrolysates exhibited inhibitory activities against Pseudomonas sp., P. aeruginosa and E. coli at 24%, 25.5% and 27.1%, respectively and one fraction of papain hydrolysate showed antibacterial activity of 33.1% against S. aureus. The evaluation of the relationship between DH and antibacterial activities of papain and bromelain hydrolysates revealed a meaningful correlation of four and six order functions.

Bromelain: an overview of industrial application and purification strategies

“…Antimicrobial peptides from natural sources can be promising candidates to replace synthetic antimicrobial agents in the treatment of a wide spectrum of bacterial infections. Thus, Ghanbari et al (2012) explored the application of Actinopyga lecanora (sea cucumber) in the production of antimicrobial peptide. They found that after 7 h of hydrolysis, hydrolysates prepared by bromelain exhibited the highest antimicrobial activities against Pseudomonas sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli compared to other hydrolysates generated by papain, alcalase, pepsin, trypsin, and flavorzyme.…”

Echinoderm Antimicrobial Peptides to Contrast Human Pathogens

“…Many of AMPs are derived from larger proteins that could be enzymatically digested and produce active fragments. This has been demonstrated by Ghanbari et al [25]. In fact, by digesting the tissues of sea cucumber Actinopyga lecanora with bromelain, peptides with inhibitory activities against respectively Pseudomonas sp., P. aeruginosa and E. coli were obtained and one papain digested fraction showed antibacterial activity against S. aureus.…”

Antimicrobial peptides from echinoderms as antibiofilm agents: a natural strategy to combat bacterial infections

“…Many AMPs are derived from larger proteins that could be enzymatically digested and produce active fragments. This has been demonstrated by (Ghanbari et al 2012). In fact, digesting the tissues of sea cucumber Actinopyga lecanora (Jaeger, 1833) with bromelain, peptides with inhibitory activities against Pseudomonas sp., P. aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli, respectively, were obtained and one papain-digested fraction showed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus.…”