The kinetics and thermodynamics of the thermal inactivation of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in an aqueous extract from mushroom Agaricus bisporus (J.E. Lange) Imbach was studied, using pyrocatechol as a substrate. Optimal conditions for enzymatic studies were determined to be pH 7.0 and 35-40 °C. The kinetics of PPO-catalyzed oxidation of pyrocatechol followed the Haldane model with an optimum substrate concentration of 20 mM. Thermal inactivation of PPO was examined in more detail between 50 and 73 °C and in relation to exposure time. Obtained monophasic kinetics were adequately described by a first-order model, with significant inactivation occurring with increasing temperature (less than 10% preserved activity after 6 min at 65 °C). Arrhenius plot determination and calculated thermodynamic parameters suggest that the PPO in aqueous extract from Agaricus bisporus mushroom is a structurally robust yet temperature-sensitive biocatalyst whose inactivation process is mainly entropy-driven.

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) from mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus (J.E.Lange) Imbach) was partially purified and characterized. The enzyme exhibited both monophenolase and diphenolase activities that were measured spectrophotometrically using L-tyrosine and pyrogallol as substrates. A two-fold purification in both activities was achieved by ammonium sulfate fractionation. The monophenolase activity was 3.35 EU/ml, and the diphenolase activity was 189.3 EU/ml. PPO was relatively stable at -15°C for 44 days. The enzyme was not very heat stable, and its activity decreased when incubated at the temperatures higher than 35°C. PPO activity showed two pH optima, at 5.3 and 7.0 at 25°C when pyrogallol was used as the substrate.Mono-, di- and triphenols were substrates for PPO. Using Vmax/Km as a specificity constant, pyrocatechol was the better substrate followed by pyrogallol. The kinetic parameters of the enzyme were: Vmax = 78 EU/min/ml, Km = 1.4 mM and KS = 250 mM for pyrogallol and Vmax = 168 EU/min/ml, Km = 0.40 mM and KS = 270 mM for the pyrocatechol. Of the inhibitors tested, competitive-type inhibition was observed with benzoic acid and sodium azide. A mixed-type inhibition was observed with L-cysteine and sodium fluoride.