Laccase activity of forest litter

Laccases are blue-copper enzymatic proteins involved in the transformation of polyphenolic compounds, such as lignin, into forest litter. A method to measure their activity was developed using an evergreen oak litter as a mod el system. We considered factors that affect the extraction of these enzyme s and the measurement of their activity. The factors studied included powde ring of the leaves, adding polyvinylpolypyrrolidone or Tween 80, adsorption of enzymes on centrifugation pellets, concentration of the extracts, natur e and molarity of the extraction solvent, amount of powdered leaves used fo r enzymatic extraction, extraction time, pH, and temperature during the mea surement of the activity. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserve d.