Clarity of fruit juices is desirable to maintain an aesthetically pleasing quality and international standards. The most commonly used enzymes in juice industries are pectinases. A partially-purified pectinmethylesterase from tomato was entrapped in calcium alginate beads and used for juice clarification. The activity yield was maximum at 1 % (w/v) CaCl2 and 2.5 % (w/v) alginate. The immobilized enzyme retained similar to 55 % of its initial activity (5.7 x 10(-2) units) after more than ten successive batch reactions. The K-m, pH and temperature optima were increased after immobilization. The most effective clarification of fruit juice (%T-620 similar to 60 %) by the immobilized enzyme was at 4 A degrees C with a holding time of 20 min. The viscosity dropped by 56 % and the filterability increased by 260 %. The juice remains clear after 2 months of storage at 4 A degrees C.