Determination of Glycolate, Glyoxylate and Hydroxybutyric Acid

Glycolic acid is an intermediate product of photosynthesis. Algae and cyanobacteria excrete glycolic acid during fermentation. 

For determination of glycolate, glycolate oxidase (EC 1.1.3.1) has been entrapped by a dialysis membrane in front of a carbon electrode modified by l,l -dimethylferrocene (Dicks et al., 1986). With a response time of 2 min the oxidation current was proportional to glycolate concentration up to 5 mmol/1. 

Similarly, the conversion of a homologous substrate has been demonstrated by using lactate oxidase. 2-Hydroxybutyric acid was measured with a lactate oxidase electrode with a sensitivity comparable with that for the normal substrate, lactate. 

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