Preparation of extracts from mature spruce needles for enzymatic analyses

It was possible to extract simultaneously several active enzymes involved in the carbohydrate or the amino acid metabolism from spruce needles [Picea abies (L.) Karst.] when a) a 100 mM Na-Pi buffer of pH 7.5 containing 5% PVPP and 0.5% Triton X-100 was used and when b) the resulting crude extracts were freed from lowmolecular-weight compounds by gel-chromatography using the separation medium Fractogel TSK HW-40. Besides Triton X-100, Triton X-305, Myrij-52 and Brij-35 were tested, but 0.5% Triton X-100 brought about the most active enzyme extracts. In crude extracts prepared from spruce needles during the early summer a high increase in absorbance at 334 nm was observed when the co-substra…