PAPAIN

Description

Papain is an enzyme found in the latex (situated between bark and pulp) of the papaya. It is also found in many plants, as well as in pineapple.

Papain is a cysteine protease of the hydrolase family. This enzyme cleaves the peptide bonds between the amino acids present in proteins.

In biology, the cleavage mechanism used by a cysteine protease is called « catalytic triad ». This name is given in reference to the number of amino acids involved (3) in this cleavage, one of which is a cysteine (sulphur amino acid).