Xylanases hydrolyze b-1,4 glycosidic bonds
in xylan which is a major constituent of the
hemicellulose complex in plant cell walls.(1)
Xylanases received intensive research interest due to
their potential industrial applications for pulp
biobleaching.(2,3) However, such applications require
xylanase with particular properties and which are
lacking all cellulase activities which would
deteriorate the pulp quality.(4) Most xylanases have
been isolated and purified from a wide range of
microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria.(5-7) Only
a few enzymes have been isolated from plants and
fruits.(8) Some isolated enzymes from filamentous
fungi and bacteria contain cellulase activity which
limit their usage.(9-11) Therefore, plants and fruits
might serve as alternative sources for cellulase-free
xylanase preparations. There has been one report on
a preliminary study of crude xylanase isolated from
ripening banana fruit.(12) In this paper, we describe
the purification of cellulase-free xylanase from
Namwa banana pulp including some properties of
the enzyme