Isolation and Purification of Whey Protein Lactoferrin and Evaluation of its Antibacterial Activity

Abstract

Background: Whey is a by-product that comes out during the manufacture of Cheese or Casein that contains high levels of lactose, proteins, salts, lactic acid, vitamins and minerals. Lactoferrin is a multifunctional protein that has great therapeutic and nutritional benefits and is a basic constituent of the normal defense system of animals and humans. It has great tendency for binding with iron which is responsible for its antimicrobial action. The aim of present study is the isolation of Lactoferrin from Mozzarrella Cheese Whey by Cation exchange chromatography and to study antibacterial effect of isolated Lactoferrin against different strains of Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria. Materials and Methods: In this study isolation and purification of Lactoferrin, a minor milk protein from Mozzarella Cheese Whey has been done in one step Action Exchange Chromatography with CM Sepharose FF resin. The purified Lf has been used to study the anti bacterial effects of Lactoferrin. Results: The antibacterial activity of Lactoferrin against two species of gram positive bacteria (Staph. Aureus, S. enteric) and 4 species of gram negative bacteria (B. spizizenii, E. coli, P. aeruginosa, E. aerogenes) were checked the results showed strong antibacterial effect of Lactoferrin on both gram positive and gram negative bacteria however it is more effective on gram negative as compared to gram positive bacteria. Conclusion: It was concluded that isolated Lactoferrin has strong antibacterial activity.