Abstract:

Rape pollen was treated with papain in different temperature and pH conditions. Permeability of pollen pores was comprehensively evaluated by several parameters such as protein dispersion index, protein solubility index, soluble sugar content, microscopic examination and granule size analysis. Results indicated that protein solubility index, protein dispersion index, and soluble sugar content exhibited a significant increase after enzymatic hydrolysis with papain (P＜0.05). The optimal conditions for hydrolysis were 60 ℃ of temperature and pH 6.0. Based on granule size analysis, fragments below 1μm and ranged in 1－2μm increased by 38.24% and 19.08%, respectively. In contrast, fragments ranged in 2－4, 4－6, 6－8, 8－10μm and 10－12μm decreased by 30.64%, 75.6%, 78.95%, 51.02% and 69.7%, respectively. Due to the declined size of pollen, pore area of pollen also increased by 21.00% through enzymatic hydrolysis. Therefore, the permeability of pollen is enhanced through papain hydrolysis, which will be helpful for dissolution of nutritional ingredients.

Key words: rape pollen, papain, permeability