Determination of some properties of free and immobilized urease from aspergillus fumigatus and its application in urea assay

Urease enzyme was extracted from Apergillus fumigatus and immobilized in calcium alginate beads. The immobilization efficiency was calculated as 82.5 %. Optimum pH and temperature for free and immobilized enzymes were found to be 7.0 and 40 degree C, respectively. The immobilized urease had a better Km value but, catalytic efficiencies (kcat/Km) were very similar. Immobilized enzyme maintained 44% of its initial activity after 5 repeated use of enzyme. It was found that storage stability of immobilized enzyme was better than that of the free enzyme. Immobilized urease enzyme was used for the determination of urea amounts in animal feed. (author)