The enzymes have been gaining more importance in different fields, among the most important the pharmaceutical field. However, due to the protein nature of the enzymes, a significant part of them presents high instability under certain conditions of use. A great way to stabilize them is to use immobilization techniques. Bromelain from pineapple has shown potential to be used in the treatment of burn-like skin injuries and superficial injuries. Biocatalytic textile fibers from cellulose of sugarcane bagasse were prepared using surface functionalization with epichlorohydrin (4% v/v) and glutaraldehyde (0.5% v/v), and 1-ethyl- (3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide and bromelain immobilization by covalent bonding in the fibers. The best immobilization results for the bromelain enzyme immobilization were using the aminopropyltriethoxysilane and glutaraldehyde activating agent at pH 7 to values of 68.97% and 88.14% for total protein content and enzyme activity, respectively. Considering the approach described in this paper, others advanced materials from pulp fibers and bioprocesses might be developed using bromelain and other enzymes for the target applications.

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in SN Applied Sciences. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42452-020-2100-1