A novel approach for the determination of pancreatic lipase (EC 3.1.1.3) activity by a spectrophotometric method is described. Enzyme activity is measured in the presence of 1 mmol/l triolein, a concentration much higher than usually employed in turbidimetry. The primary reaction medium is optimized as regards bile salt and colipase concentrations. The released fatty acids are enzymatically determined via a secondary reaction scheme using the constituents of a commercially available kit. The proposed method is easy to perform and may prove useful in determining lipase activity of standard lipase preparations, which is required for indirect assays. In addition to satisfactory precision and linearity as well as close correlation with other lipase assays, the procedure described in the present paper by-passes a number of short-comings (eg uncontrolled increase in absorbance) inherent to the turbidimetric methods.