Viscometric assay of the protease activity of bate and drum liquor

A viscometric procedure has been developed for the assay of general (non-sp ecific) proteolytic activity, in particular the proteolytic activity of bat e in the drum during the course of the bating operation. The basic features of the assay procedure are as follows: (1) a commercially available gelati n is used as substrate, (2) a clarified sample of drum liquor is added, (3) the resulting mixture is incubated at 40 degrees C for 20 min or 60 min, ( 4) enzymatic activity is terminated with a stop reagent, and (5) the viscos ity of the resulting solution is measured at 40 degrees C. Any one of a var iety of instruments may be used to measure the viscosity, including a simpl e glass viscometer of the Cannon-Fenske type. The dependence of the measure d viscosity on the concentration of proteolytic enzyme is well described by a double exponential decay curve. Numerous samples can be run simultaneous ly (with staggering).