Spectrophotometric determination of effective proteolytic activity in biodetergents

A new procedure for the determination of effective proteolytic activity in biodetergents has been developed. Effective enzyme activity is defined as the activity exhibited by the tested enzyme under real washing conditions, i.e., in the water suspensions of the biodetergent tested at the working temperature (usually 40 degrees C). Two insoluble chromolytic substrates, namely black gelatin (gelatin cross-linked with glutaraldehyde in the presence of black drawing ink) and the protease substrate based on the immobilization of dyed casein in the structure of polyacrylamide gel (blue casein-PAAG) were successfully used. It was found that there is a great difference in effective proteolytic activity among various biodetergents. The proposed procedure is suitable both for the manufacturers for a quick control of their products and for the quality control laboratories.