Crude papain in papaya peels was stabilized before drying by the addition of various chemicals (ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate, erythorbic acid, sodium erythorbate, sodium metabisulfite, sodium tetrathionate, 4-hexylresorcinol, t-butyl hydroquinone [TBHQ], rutin, α-tocopherol, trehalose, and sucrose). Chemicals were added to the ground papaya peels at 0, 0.12, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.25, and 1.5% (w /w). Drying temperatures were 40, 55 and 60 °C. Enzyme activity was measured before and after drying by the casein digestion method. Percentage of enzyme activity retained (% EAR) was calculated by assigning a value of 100% EAR to fresh peels. Possible synergism between chemicals was also studied for a 1:1 ratio chemical/chemical at 1% total concentration. The highest % EAR was obtained at 55 °C for all chemicals except for sucrose and trehalose which showed their best effect at 40 °C. TBHQ rutin, α-tocopherol and 4-hexylresorcinol showed a destabilizing effect. Maximum protective effect occurred at 1% concentration. At this concentration sodium tetrathionate showed the best protective effect (90% EAR) followed by sodium metabisulfite (85% EAR), while both sodium ascorbate and sodium erythorbate retained 75% of the original activity. Ascorbic acid and erythorbic acid were 10% less effective than their corresponding sodium salts, possibly due to lower pH. Trehalose showed only 57 % EAR while sucrose failed to produce any appreciable effect. No synergistic effect was shown by any combination of chemicals.

Membrane technology is primarily used for the separation and purification of biotechnological products, which contain proteins and enzymes. Membrane fouling during crossflow filtration remains a significant challenge. This study aims to initially validate crossflow filtration models, particularly related to pore-blocking mechanisms, through a comparative analysis with dead-end filtration models. One crossflow microfiltration (MF) and six consecutive ultrafiltration (UF) stages were implemented to concentrate laccase extracts from Pleurotus ostreatus 202 fungi. The complete pore-blocking mechanism significantly impacts the MF, UF 1000, UF 100 and UF 10 stages, with the highest related filtration constant (Kb_F) estimated at 12.60 × 10⁻⁴ (m⁻¹). Although the intermediate pore-blocking mechanism appears across all filtration stages, UF 100 is the most affected, with an associated filtration constant (Ki_F) of 16.70 (m⁻¹). This trend is supported by the highest purification factor (6.95) and the presence of 65, 62 and 56 kDa laccases in the retentate. Standard pore blocking occurs at the end of filtration, only in the MF and UF 1000 stages, with filtration constants (Ks_F) of 29.83 (s^−0.5m^−0.5) and 31.17 (s^−0.5m^−0.5), respectively. The absence of cake formation and the volume of permeate recovered indicate that neither membrane was exposed to exhaustive fouling that could not be reversed by backwashing.

Fermentation of agave sap, also known as exudate, has become an ancestral practice throughout Ecuadorian Andean. In Cayambe, located in this region, grows Agave americana L., which is recollected, and its sap is fermented. The agave-based fermented beverage, locally named "tzawar mishki", exhibits variable features, mainly ethanol concentration. In this work, fermentation conditions of agave sap were studied to enhance ethanol yield. Two thermal treatments for raw exudate were evaluated, pasteurization at boiling point for 30 minutes and sterilization at 121°C for 15 minutes; fermentation temperature, 30°C and room (around 18°C); and two yeast strains. Thermal pretreatments have a positive impact on reducing sugars and sucrose concentration. In the first case, an increase of 76 % and 30 % has been reported, while sucrose concentration quadrupled and doubled in pasteurized and sterilized samples, respectively. The highest ethanol concentration (63,31 g/L) and the best yield (66,21 %) were accomplished through agave sap pasteurized and fermented for 96 hours at 30°C. Negligible differences have been evidenced in ethanol and other volatile compounds content between the two yeast strains evaluated. Keywords: agave sap, ethanol, fermentation, fermentable sugars, yeast