The purpose of this study is to produce bromelain powder from crown extract of pineapple variety N36. The physicochemical
properties of the pineapple crown extract were initially determined. It was found that the percentage of pulp, pH,
TSS, percentage of acidity, percentage of fructose and glucose of the pineapple crown extract were 2.41%, 3.94, 1.6°Brix,
0.3%, 0.83% and 0.51%, respectively. In this study, the pineapple crown extract was prepared by food processor before
being filtered using muslin cloth. The bromelain in the pineapple crown extract was then purified by Preparative High
Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) (Agilent) using cation exchange resin column. Subsequently, the salt in the
purified bromelain was removed by diafiltration process using continous diafiltrator. Finally, the desalted bromelain
solution was dried using freeze dryer (Christ alpha 1-4LD Plus model). It was determined that 1.0g of bromelain powder
could be produced from 200ml of desalted bromelain solution or formerly 100g pineapple crown. The bromelain activity
at each step towards producing of powdered bromelain was determined. It was found that bromelain activity was
significantly highest in powdered bromelain (529.77 ± 5.74 CDU/mg) at the 5% level followed by purified bromelain
(501.08 ± 3.31 CDU/mg), desalted bromelain (485.78 ± 8.76 CDU/mg) and pineapple crown extract (426.49 ± 8.76
CDU/mg).