Authors : L. Lima-Filho , S.R.F. Moreno , R.S. Freitas , S.D. Santos-Filho , M.V. Castro-Faria , G.M.T. Lima , L.C.M. Aleixo and M. Bernardo-Filho
Abstract: Phytic acid is a wide-ranging regulator of many important cellular functions such as intracellular regulations of surface receptions channels and it is known to have antioxidant and chelating properties. Stannous fluoride (SnF2) is widely used by the human beings. It has been known for many years that fluoride is an inhibitor of enzymes. In order to analyze whether the sensitive, simple and low cost potentiometric method is capable to inhibit the jack bean urease activity, finally, we evaluated this system specifically to verify the jack bean urease inhibition by phytic acid and stannous fluoride. Inhibition curves showed that stannous fluoride (0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 mM) promoted a 20.34 ? 0.62, 53.13 ? 2.77 and 72.86 ? 4.32 % inhibition of the enzyme, respectively. Phytic acid (10 and 20 mM) did not alter significantly (p<0.05) the enzyme from the inhibition induced by the SnF2. Although, the formation of metal-complexes is a property of phytic acid, our results suggest that the chelating properties of phytic acid, probably, could be responsible by the observed effects. Furthermore, this method can be worthwhile to evaluate the action of some other chemical agents used by the human beings.
L. Lima-Filho , S.R.F. Moreno , R.S. Freitas , S.D. Santos-Filho , M.V. Castro-Faria , G.M.T. Lima , L.C.M. Aleixo and M. Bernardo-Filho , 2004. In vitro Potentiometric Method to Evaluate the Phytic Acid and Stannous Fluoride in Jack Bean Urease Inhibition . Journal of Food Technology, 2: 232-236.