Bromelain is the chemical name for what's more commonly referred to as pineapple enzyme. This enzyme is a protease -- that is to say, it digests protein. It does this by breaking the bonds between the building block molecules of protein, though it can't break all the bonds that hold a protein together.
Proteins
Proteins are large molecules that are made up of building blocks called amino acids. The amino acids are held together by bonds called peptide bonds; digesting a protein involves breaking the peptide bonds to release the amino acids from one another, explain Drs. Reginald Garrett and Charles Grisham in their book "Biochemistry." Protease enzymes -- those that break down proteins -- are common in nature. You secrete some into your digestive tract to help you break down proteins in your food, and all organisms use them to recycle their own proteins.
Bromelain
Different proteases work differently. There are 20 common amino acids, and most proteases preferentially break the peptide bonds between, preceding, or following only select amino acids. For instance, bromelain tends to break the bonds that follow the amino acids lysine, alanine, tyrosine and glycine, according to MPBio.com, a source of biomedical products including many protein-digesting enzymes. Depending on the amount of these amino acids in a protein, the degree to which bromelain can break a protein down varies.
Tenderizing Meat
The most common use of bromelain is as a meat tenderizer. Meat, made up of muscle, consists of large quantities of protein. Tougher cuts of meat -- as from older or more active animals -- are harder to chew, and can benefit from marinading with bromelain-containing juice and other similar tenderizers. The effectiveness of bromelain as a meat tenderizer is one of the reasons pineapple juice is so common, especially in teriyaki-flavored marinades.
Other Uses
There's some question as to whether bromelain has other applications as well. For instance, researchers are investigating its ability to treat or alleviate the symptoms of arthritis. Convincing evidence has not yet been published, but continued investigations in the coming years may reveal more. One common use of bromelain, however, has no scientific basis. You can't take bromelain to supplement your own digestive processes; your digestive tract depends upon its own enzymes and, at least as far as protein digestion goes, can't benefit from supplements.
References
- "Biochemistry"; Reginald Garrett, Ph.D. and Charles Grisham, Ph.D.; 2007
- MPBio: Bromelain
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