A polypeptide having proline-specific protease activity which comprises the amino acid sequence set out in SEQ ID NO: 3 or an amino acid sequence encoded by the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 and/or SEQ ID NO: 2, or a variant thereof or a fragment of either thereof. The invention also relates to methods for using the polypeptide in industrial processes. Also included in the invention are cells transformed with a polynucleotide according to the invention suitable for producing these proteins.