Equipment for determination of alpha-amylase activity

The Falling Number is a measure of the activity of the enzyme alpha-amylase in grain crops and their processed products (flour).

Alpha-amylase is an amylolytic enzyme that is activated during grain germination.

This enzyme acts on starch, breaking it down to sugars.

The baking properties of flour made from such grains become much worse (baked goods are dry, smaller in size, and deteriorate rapidly).

The method of determination consists in the pasteurization of an aqueous suspension of milled grains or flour in a test tube placed in a boiling water bath and determining the degree of liquefaction of alpha-amylase enzymes.

The Falling Number is the time, in seconds, from the time the rod is immersed in the suspension, until it has completely fallen.

The lower the fall number, the higher the activity of the alpha-amylase enzyme.

The devices which determine the "Falling Number" simulate thermal conditions similar to those of baking bread: the critical temperature zone from the maximum alpha-amylase activity to the point of its thermal inactivation takes the flour suspension almost the same time as when baking bread dough (~ 30 to 40 seconds).

Thus, the scale of activity of the enzyme alpha-amylase coincides with the scale of the instrument for determining the "Falling Number" (the correlation coefficient is equal to - 0.984).

There are single-channel and dual-channel instruments for determination of the Falling Number.