Discussion on methods of soil dehydrogenase determination

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the influence of different factors on the measured values of dehydrogenase activity. We focus on the incubation time of the sample and optimal 2,3,5-triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride concentration. We provide a comparison between results obtained from three methods: Casida method, standard method, and optimization method. Some disadvantages of traditional methods were critically discussed. We showed that the results of dehydrogenase activity determination strongly depend on the method used. To minimize these discrepancies, the increase in TPF concentration should be described with the kinetic model which allows determining tangent activity. Michaelis–Menten kinetics can be used to describe the relationship between TTC concentration and tangent activities. We suggest using the value of 4 km as the optimal TTC concentration.