Abstract:The polygalacturonase (PG) isolated fron the pericarp of fully ripe tomato fruits was purified by (NH4)2SO4 precipitation, carboxyme-thylsepharose ion-exchang column and sephadex G-75 gel filtration. Specific activity of purified PG was 1.5 μmol galacturonic acid mg-1 protein min-1, which was 30 times as high as that of the crude extract with 1.7mol NaC1. When the elution separated by second sephadex G-75 column was analyzed by SDS-PAGE, only a single protein band was detected. It was shown by heat and pH experiments of the purified enzyme that the enzyme activity retained 50%, after treatment with heat at 50℃ for 10 min, and that the optimal pH was 4.6.