A convenient automated method for the determination of proteolytic enzymes

An automated method for the assay of proteolytic enzymes is described. The insoluble dye-protein complex, Remazolbrilliant Blue-hide powder, is used as the substrate and is readily digested by trypsin, elastase, subtilisin, thermolysin, chymotrypsin, and to a lesser extent pronase, pepsin, and bacterial collagenase. The proteolytic activity of crude microbial culture preparations is expressed in terms of an equivalent concentration of crystalline trypsin, which itself can be readily determined within the concentration range 0.25–5.0 μg/ml.