The objective of this study was to develop a new, highly sensitive, efficient and easy touse spectrophotometric method to determine the enzymatic activity of endo-β-mannanase in seeds. The method was optimized and applied to determine the site of enzyme activity in different parts of seeds of Butia capitata. It consists in using the enzyme extracted from seeds to hydrolyze Locust bean gum galactomannan. The reducing sugars react with p-hydroxybenzoic acid hydrazide and are quantified by spectrophotometry in the visible region. The optimized and validated method showed low limits of quantification for the reducing sugars (0.6 µg mannose) and endo-β-mannanase activity (1 mU). Only 5 mg of germinating seeds are needed to perform the method.
galactomannan; germination; reducing sugar
