Enzymatic detection of ethanol and glucose with alcohol oxidase and glucose oxidase

Abstract

Detection of ethanol and glucose by means of high accuracy, sensitivity and specificity is still required in various areas. There are different methods and devices already used in the market which include spectrometry, chromatography and IR detection. Enzymatic detection of ethanol and glucose is also significant and has been applied in various devices with the advantages of its simplicity, rapidity and sensitivity. As ethanol and glucose are strong reducing agents, they can reduce the color compound and produce different color changes. Many alcohol and glucose detector using enzymatic reaction are based on that concept. The most common enzymatic reaction is the oxidation of these two compounds by oxidative enzymes (alcohol oxidase and glucose oxidase). This enzymatic reaction is currently used in saliva alcohol test strips for alcohol test and serum glucose test kits for glucose test. In this dissertation project, it was mainly stressed on the optimal enzymes reagents that can give the working conditions on the membrane and stabilization of enzymes on the membrane for long duration of storage. In addition to this, effects of various enzymes concentration and sequence of enzymes mixture on the rate of reaction and color outcomes were also examined in this dissertation project. Lastly, the various methods of ethanol and glucose detection were also discussed and compared to each other for the evaluation of dissimilarities between them.