Biochemical Aspects of Superoxide Dismutase Isolated from Amaranthus spinosus : A Therapeutically Important Plant

Superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1), an ubiquitous potent antioxidant enzyme primarily scavenges superoxide radical, which causes oxidative damage to a living organism’s essential proteins, lipids and its DNA. The cellular damage caused by free radicals, initiates accumulation of mutations in nucleic acids sequences, which increases in number by time and finally gives rise to rapid aging, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, Diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, neurological disorders and cancer. In the present work, Amaranth; a highly nutritious grain of Indian subcontinent, has been studied for the presence of SOD activity. The crude enzyme (SOD) isolated from the seeds of Amaranthus spinosus was found to have specific activity of 0.54 units/mg and was characterized further with respect to various biochemical parameters viz; pH, temperature, time, pH stability, temperature stability, for maximum SOD activity. The enzyme was found to show its maximum activity at temperature and pH conditions corresponding to 30C and 8.0, respectively, in 30 minutes of incubation period. Temperature and pH stability was found to lie between 20-40C and 6.0-9.0, respectively. The results obtained suggest that Amaranthus spinosus, a traditional valued food and a medicinal source in India, may also act as potential source of SOD enzyme, an antioxidant, which further has great importance in therapeutics.

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