Enzyme Activity Calculation

Hello and good day. I am currently trying to calculate the enzyme activity of a product. For example one product consists of 2 enzymes and by referring to our supplier's spec the enzyme activity value have different units. I do understand that this is because there are various method to determine the enzyme activity hence the units. But I would like to know how to convert those units to u/g? The units that I have are PLA2UN/g,LU/g and KLU/g. Is it possible for me to convert these to u/g? If yes, how can I do it? Are there any other enzyme activity units that I am not aware of?  Would really appreciate if anyone with enzyme expertise to help out as I am in a dead end. Thank you in advance  :biggrin:

Enzymes are calculated in Units/g.  Units being defined in the methodology of the assay, for example:  LU/g (Food Chemical Codex Method) One lipase unit (LU) is defined as the quantity of enzyme that will liberate 1  micromole of butyric acid per minute under the conditions of the test.  So the PLU2 is in Units/g same for the LU/g and KLU/g.  Dilutions and formulations are easy if you think of it that way.  

And yes there are many many enzyme activities.  There may even be multiple side activities in the enzymes you are purchasing that are not on your COA.  (some proteases have amylase side activities, others do not.)

Hello @Bo16,

Does this mean that even if in the COA they put KLU/g, LU/g or PLA2UN/g it is actually the same unit as u/g? So that means no conversion unit is needed?

Thank you so much for helping out!

Enzymes are calculated in Units/g.  Units being defined in the methodology of the assay, for example:  LU/g (Food Chemical Codex Method) One lipase unit (LU) is defined as the quantity of enzyme that will liberate 1  micromole of butyric acid per minute under the conditions of the test.  So the PLU2 is in Units/g same for the LU/g and KLU/g.  Dilutions and formulations are easy if you think of it that way.  

 

And yes there are many many enzyme activities.  There may even be multiple side activities in the enzymes you are purchasing that are not on your COA.  (some proteases have amylase side activities, others do not.)

If you have 14.2 LU/g and 200 PLA2Un/g and 24 KLU/g, you have all three enzyme units (definition of that unit varies by activity method) of activity in 1 gram of product. (either blended or multiple assays for one enzyme protein) 

So if you were trying to determine Total units of LU activity in a 0.5g capsule (pure enzyme, no diluents):  It would be 0.5g x the Activity in U/g or 7.1 LU units in each capsule.

If the dose is 2 capsules then double it to 14.2 Units / dose or 2 capsules.)

If you need a dosage of 400 PLAUnits for every 50 pounds of cheese, and you need to treat 100 pounds of cheese you would need a total of 800 PA2Units at 200 PLAUn/g, so you would need to dose 800 PLAUnits/200 PLAUnits/g = 4g of enzyme.

So Dose or manufacturing dosage is in total number of units needed, and then determine how many g of enzyme you need to get that many units.