ABSTRACT
A new method was introduced into the cereals field for the measurement of alpha-amylase. The principle of the method was nephelometry in which the rate of decrease in turbidity of substrate increased linearly with increase in amount of alpha-amylase. The Perkin-Elmer Corp., Oak Brook, Ill. introduced a machine to measure such changes called the Model 191 Grain Amylase Analyzer. One of the advantages of the method, unlike some other methods such as the falling number method, was that it was possible to measure fungal alpha-amylase supplementation in a flour and the natural levels. In spite of the widespread flurry of activity using the Grain Amylase Analyzer, the method has not found widespread acceptance in the flour milling and baking industries. The mechanism of the breakdown of beta-limit dextrin by malted wheat alpha-amylase has been examined bu high-performance gel permeation chromatography. The most important shift in molecular weight from the point of the nephelometric method occurs in the first 33 minutes.
