Determination of alginate composition by a simple enzymatic assay

The action of alginate lyases may be easily followed in a UV-spectrophotometer, since each cut of the alginate chain will create an unsaturated unit at the non-reducing end with a strong absorbance at 230 nm. During prolonged incubation, this absorbance will approach an apparent endpoint level that reflects the initial substrate concentration. On this basis, a standardized assay has been developed. A combination of purified mannuronate lyase from Haliotis tuberculata and purified guluronate lyase from Klebsiella pneumoniae is applied to get quantitative concentration estimates that do not depend on alginate composition. The production of alginate in Azotobacter vinelandii is included as an example of application. Most important, by applying both enzymes alone and in combination, the block composition of the alginate may be estimated. Data for a series of widely different alginates have been compared with those obtained by NMR.