Lysozyme, also known as muramidase or N-acetylmuramoylhydrolase, catalyzes the hydrolysis of certain bacterial cell wall polysaccharides, thereby dissolving the bacterial cell wall and exerting a bactericidal effect.
Lysozyme degrades a turbid bacterial suspension of a certain concentration, reducing turbidity and increasing transmittance. The lysozyme activity can be determined by measuring the change in optical density.