Protease Activity Assay of Allium genus Using Zymography

An experiment was conducted to identify protease activity in four plants of Allium spp. (Garlic, Onion, Iranian Shallot and Leek) using zymography with four substrates including collagen, casein, gelatin and fibrin. Using Bradford method, total protein content of garlic was the highest value (13.6 mg/ml) and the lowest was for onion (0.7 mg/ml). Zymography with collagen substrate showed light spots on blue background (due to enzyme activity on substrate). The sharpest and biggest light spots were found for the leek pattern (about 77 KDa). For Indian and Iranian shallot a sharp light spot was found with molecular mass of 77 KDa and 29 KDa respectively. The sharpest light spots for onion and garlic were appeared in the range of 67 to 77 KDa. Finally, protease activity was found for all plant proteins using collagen and gelatin substrates; but chive indicated the highest protease activity. The results of this research showed very differences among proteome patterns and zymograms of studied plant proteins that will be used for medicinal and clinical applications

Protease Activity Assay of Allium genus Using Zymography Keywords:

Zymography , Protease activity , Allium spp