How to sterilize chitinase-rich foods without destroying chitinase?

[Methaneontitan]

By what methods is it possible to kill the microbes in foods rich in chitinase without destroying the chitinase? I am thinking of killing the kinds of microbes that can grow on regular agar plates at room temperature.

[TheVat]

I thought chitinases were pretty heat-stable.  Cabbage is boiled and still retains chitinases.  Bananas are fried, and also retain chitinases. (ethylene gas will increase chitinase production in some plants, like bananas)  Are you sure heating agar, which is derived from red algae, would destroy the chitinase?

btw,

Does your name mean "meth, a neon Titan" or "methane on Titan"?

🙂

Edited April 13 by TheVat

[Methaneontitan]

9 hours ago, TheVat said:

I thought chitinases were pretty heat-stable.  Cabbage is boiled and still retains chitinases.  Bananas are fried, and also retain chitinases. (ethylene gas will increase chitinase production in some plants, like bananas)  Are you sure heating agar, which is derived from red algae, would destroy the chitinase?

btw,

Does your name mean "meth, a neon Titan" or "methane on Titan"?

🙂

Do you know how much chitinase activity in units per milligram there is in different types of chitinase-rich food in their "natural" state (i.e. not extracted) before and after boiling? If it differs a lot depending on ethylene effects, I would like to know numbers for specific maturity stages too, ethylene causing some plants to mature. That is, I am asking about retention of functional chitinase, not chitinase-homologs that have lost their ability to degrade chitin.

 

Do you know what pH values chitinase can be treated with without being permanently damaged? That is, how acidic or alkaline solutions chitinase can be placed in and still regain its full chitin-degrading ability when returned to moderate pH?

 

I an not intending to mix chitinase into the agar, I am intending to treat the cells with chitinase before I place them on the agar. Just wanting to avoid contamination.

 

By the way, my name means methane on Titan. CH4 on the Saturnian moon with a substantial atmosphere.