Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 1, 2026
11:56
Antimicrobial Peptides Produced by Selective Pressure Incorporation of Non-canonical Amino Acids
Published on: May 4, 2018
13.1K
A Simple Method for the Purification of Nisin
Ronan Gough1,2, Beatriz Gómez-Sala1, Paula M O'Connor1,3
1Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland.
Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins
|May 31, 2017
Summary
Researchers developed a simple salting-out method to purify nisin, a peptide antimicrobial. This technique efficiently removes impurities, yielding a high-purity nisin powder suitable for research and industrial applications.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Biochemistry
- Food Science
Background:
- Nisin is a peptide antimicrobial effective against Gram-positive bacteria.
- It is widely used as a food preservative.
- Nisin also shows therapeutic potential for infectious diseases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a simple and scalable purification method for nisin.
- To achieve high purity nisin from a whey permeate-based medium.
- To enhance the purity of commercial nisin preparations.
Main Methods:
- A salting-out approach was employed for nisin purification.
- The method utilized a cell-free culture supernatant from a nisin-producing culture.
- Purification was performed on both crude nisin and a commercial nisin preparation.
Main Results:
- A powder containing approximately 33% nisin was produced.
- The method removed over 99% of lactic acid, NaCl, lactose, and non-nisin proteins.
- Commercial nisin preparation purity was enriched over 30-fold to approximately 58%.
Conclusions:
- The salting-out method provides a simple and effective way to purify nisin.
- This approach yields higher purity nisin compared to existing methods.
- The method is suitable for both research and large-scale applications.
