Papain catalysed hydantoin hydrolysis in the synthesis of amino acids.

Papain has been shown, for the first time, to exhibit hydantoinase activity. It hydrolyzes the 5-mono and 5,5'-disubstituted hydantoins with linear and cyclic substituents, with a higher activity for the latter, to the corresponding N-carbamoyl amino acids, which on chemical hydrolysis yield the corresponding amino acids. The up-scaling of this simple procedure could be a major break-through for amino acid synthesis in chemical and pharmaceutical industries.