Immobilization and Characterization of Tannase from a Metagenomic Library and Its Use for Removal of Tannins from Green Tea Infusion

Tannase (Tan410) from a soil metagenomic library was immobilized on different supports, including mesoporous silica SBA-15, chitosan, calcium alginate, and amberlite IRC 50. Entrapment in calcium alginate beads was comparatively found to be the best method and was further characterized. The optimum pH of the immobilized Tan410 was shifted toward neutrality compared with the free enzyme (from pH 6.4 to pH 7.0). The optimum temperature was determined to be $45^{\circ}C$ for the immobilized enzyme and $30^{\circ}C$ for the free enzyme, respectively. The immobilized enzyme had no loss of activity after 10 cycles, and retained more than 90% of its original activity after storage for 30 days. After immobilization, the enzyme activity was only slightly affected by $Hg^{2+}$, which completely inhibited the activity of the free enzyme. The immobilized tannase was used to remove 80% of tannins from a green tea infusion on the first treatment. The beads were used for six successive runs resulting in overall hydrolysis of 56% of the tannins.