Table 2.

Mean of β-glucosidase activity in fresh saliva samples in the presence or absence of clinical conditions. Volunteers presenting halitosis, visible dental biofilm and gingivitis presented higher enzymatic activity in saliva compared to volunteers without this clinical condition. Interestingly the mean of β-glucosidase activity among halitosis-patients was two-fold higher compared to β-glucosidase activity in halitosis-absent patients.

Clinical sign	N	Mean β-glucosidase activitya	p-value
Halitosis
+	32	0.294 ± 0.03 nmol/g/min 0.133 ± 0.02 nmol/g/min	0.0003
–	16
Biofilm
+	25	0.284 ± 0.04 nmol/g/min 0.193 ± 0.03 nmol/g/min	0.0390
–	23
Gingivitis
+	27	0.281 ± 0.04 nmol/g/min 0.187 ± 0.02 nmol/g/min	0.0585
–	21
Tongue coating
+	18	0.213 ± 0.02 nmol/g/min 0.250 ± 0.04 nmol/g/min	0.6624
–	30
Total of volunteers		48

+ Positive cases for the specified clinical condition.

- Negative cases for the specified clinical condition.

N Total of volunteers with or without the clinical condition.

^aMean of triplicates after enzymatic assays ± standard error.