Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction Enhances Enzymatic Activity and Thermal Stability of Bovine Pancreatin: Effect of pH and Temperature

The extraction of enzyme preparations from bovine pancreas is a key step in the production of pancreatin used for pharmaceutical and food industry applications. However, conventional methods (CMs) often fail to preserve enzymatic activity (EA) during processing, particularly under variable temperature and pH conditions. This study investigates the potential of ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAM) as an alternative to CMs for improving the recovery, stability, and performance of two essential pancreatic enzymes—α-amylase (AA) and protease (PA). EA was assessed over a broad temperature range (10–50 °C) and pH spectrum (5.5–8.0), with both methods evaluated under identical conditions. UAM consistently yielded higher EA across all tested parameters, with optimal AA and PA observed at pH 6.0 and 38 °C. Notably, UAM-extracted enzymes retained significant activity even at elevated temperatures (46–50 °C), whereas CM-derived samples showed a marked loss of function. These findings demonstrate that UAM enhances enzyme release and thermal resilience by minimizing denaturation and structural degradation during extraction. UAM showed improved apparent thermal tolerance under the tested conditions, which may indicate enhanced applicability in temperature-sensitive processing environments.