The partition behaviour of trypsin in poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-cashew-nut tree gum aqueous two-phase systems has been characterized. The enzyme partitioned preferentially into the cashew-nut tree gum phase. Investigation on the effect of the molecular weight of the PEG, the pH of system and the tie-line length of the biphasic diagram lead to the conclusion that the system properties had little effect on trypsin partition coefficients. In some cases, the NaCl addition changed dramatically the partition coefficient, this means that altering the conditions allows the manipulation of the protein partition. Maximum recovery of trypsin activity in the cashew-nut tree gum phase was obtained with PEG (molecular weight 8000) at pH 7.0 and 1.0 M NaCl. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.