A Sensitive Determination Procedure for Lytic Activity of Lysozyme in Foods

A simple procedure for sensitive determination of the lytic activity of lysozyme is presented.This procedure was carried out turbidimetrically at a higher temperature (60°C) and for a longer time (60min) than in the conventional method. In order to stimulate the lytic activity of lysozyme, small amounts of nonionic surfactant and NaCl were added to M/15 phosphate buffer, pH 6.2. With this procedure, it was possible to determine the lytic activity of hen egg white lysozyme at a concentration of 0-15ng/ml of reaction solution. It was also possible to determine lysozyme added at low concentration to some kinds of foods which exhibit strong turbidity.