Determination of catalase activity (EC 1.11.1.

6)
Aebi (1984)/ Marchut-Mikołajczyk O., PhD

Author/User

Keywords: hydrogen peroxide, catalase

equipment required: spectrophotometer

execution time: 1 h

Description:
The principle of the method is based on the measured of a decrease in absorbance of the
test sample by the induced decomposition of H 2O2 in the presence of analyte enzyme. This
rate is recorded by measuring the reduction in absorbance during 3 minutes at 240 nm in 1.5
ml of reaction mixture consisting of: 13.2 mM H 2O2 in 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) and
0.1 ml of the cell homogenate. As a control a mixture containing: 50 mM phosphate buffer
(pH 7.0) and 0.1 ml of the cell homogenate is used. The activity of catalase (CAT) was
expressed in micromoles of H2O2 separated within one minute with one gram of wet weight
cells.
AEBI, H. (1984). Catalase in vitro. Methods Enzymol. 105:121- 126.