Figure 1

Chromogenic polysaccharide hydrogel (CPH) substrates. (A) Examples of CPH substrates loaded into syringe applicators for easy dispensing into microplate wells. (B) CPH substrates in four colours, from top green, yellow, red and blue. (C) Diagram of part of a reaction plate containing a CPH substrate (red β-glucan) and different enzymes and a control buffer. (D) Diagram showing part of a reaction plate during the incubation period. (E) Transfer of the supernatant into the product plate prior to spectrophotometric measurement. Result: enzyme A has glucanase activity, and enzyme B does not. (F) Diagram showing the simultaneous use of two different coloured CPH substrates (yellow xylan and blue galactomannan). Result: enzyme A has mannanase activity but no xylanase activity, enzyme B has xylanase but no mannanase activity, and enzyme C has both xylanase and mannanase activity.