Chitosan (CS)-coated gamma-Fe2O3 nanoparticles (MNPs) attached with a biodegradable and eco-friendly biologic reagent, alpha-ketoglutaric acid (alpha-KA), was prepared and used as a magnetic nanoadsorbent to separate the papain from aqueous solution. Dynamic adsorption experiments on the magnetic nanoadsorbent were carried out at various pH values, ionic strength and initial papain concentrations to determine optimum magnetic nanoadsorbent adsorption properties. The maximum adsorption capacity for papain was up to 92.3 mg/g. Isotherm study shows that the Freundlich model was able to describe the papain adsorption process with a good fitting. Desorption experiment indicates that the chitosan coated magnetic nanoparticles grafted with alpha-ketoglutaric acid has high stability and recovery capacity. It is concluded that alpha-KA-CS-MNPs could be a potential effective adsorbent for the industrial isolation of the valuable proteins.