Date of Award

Spring 1939

Document Type

Thesis - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemistry

First Advisor

Koch, John R.

Abstract

The work described in the following pages is an application of a new apparatus and method for the determination of the proteolytic strength of commercial enzyme preparations. Enzymes play a major part in many industrial processes. This practical phase of the work has furnished incentive for an intensive study of the mode of enzyme action as well as for its measurement. Still, because of the complex nature of the substances involved no method has as yet been generally adopted for determining enzyme activity; nor is there any general agreement as to the best substance to be used as substrate in these determinations. Some methods are cumbersome and require a great deal of painstaking manipulation; others require an unduly large amount of material for the tests. Among the methods of determining enzyme activity, those depending on the measurement or decreasing viscosity of the substrate are the most convenient. But here again, some of the commercial viscometers in common use have disadvantages when applied to the problem of enzyme study. This thesis describes a vlscometric procedure developed in the chemical laboratories of Marquette University. The method is simple and accurate. The viscometer is so designed as to eliminate a number of the common sources of error encountered when working with other types. The simplicity of operation makes the viscometer particularly suited for use in routine laboratory analysis.

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