Enzyme assays are laboratory methods for measuring enzymatic activity, developing analysis technologies and studying enzyme catalytic mechanisms. They are vital for the study of enzyme kinetics and enzyme inhibition.
The enzyme activity is generally determined as substrate converted respectively product formed per time unit. Procedures for enzyme assays are documented or cited in various standard books and databases. However, the enzyme activity depends on manifold factors and general understanding of the particular features of enzymes is required, which cannot be described in all details in protocols for special enzyme assays. The common methods to be applied in enzyme assays are the subject of this section.