Abstract:
This work compares rhodanese activity profile in liver and skeletal muscle of some selected avian species. The
enzyme activity was estimated colorimetrically by reacting thiocyanate released from enzymatic hydrolysis with
Fe3+ forming a red coloured complex. The rhodanese activity in the liver of duck, dove, pigeon, domestic fowl
and guinea fowl were 57.90 ± 6.66,17.491 ± 8.38,16.848 ± 9.40,13.744 ± 3.21 and 9.785 ± 1.24 pmol/min/mg
protein. The activity of the enzyme in the skeletal muscles of the birds were 4.611 ± 1.45,6.672 ± 0.98,5.783 ±
0.69, 5.160 ± 0.73 and 4.359 ± 1.11 umol/min/rng protein respectively. The result indicated that the ratio of
rhodanese activity of muscle to liver appears to be higher in the birds engaged in active muscular activity. The
findings suggest that the enzyme, in addition to cyanide detoxification may also play an important role in
energy metabolism in these birds.
