A numerical technique for interpreting the bioluminescence ATP assay

Abstract

A numerical technique coupled with automatic data acquisition was developed for the rapid and accurate evaluation of the bioluminescence ATP assay using the luciferin‐luciferase reaction. An exponential decay equation is fitted to the light emission curve of a sample containing ATP. The integral of the curve was found to be a reliable indicator of the amount of ATP in a sample regardless of the overall shape of the curve, peak height, or rate of initial rise. This method is useful for analyzing extracts from environmental samples containing contaminating colloids and molecular species which tend to alter the light emission curve.